This story was excerpted from Jordan Bastian¡¯s Cubs Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

CHICAGO -- In his first game back with the Cubs, rookie Pete Crow-Armstrong headed out to center field in the eighth inning of Wednesday night¡¯s game against the Astros. It was a way to strengthen the defense in a tight contest, but Cubs manager Craig Counsell explained that it was also to get Ian Happ off his feet after a recent bout with a hamstring issue.

It was the first snapshot into how Counsell will find moments to use Crow-Armstrong -- Pipeline¡¯s top-ranked Cubs prospect and the No. 15 prospect in baseball -- after calling him up from Triple-A when Cody Bellinger (two right rib fractures) landed on the injured list. Crow-Armstrong will offer late-inning defense, plus speed for certain situations and be given opportunistic chances to be in the lineup.

¡°Pete¡¯s here because of injuries, right?¡± Counsell said. ¡°When these guys get healthy, there¡¯s probably not going to be a spot for him. And so, from that perspective, we¡¯re maybe taking a timeout [on his Minor League development]. But I still think big league at-bats, big league competition, that¡¯s development, too.

¡°It may not be on an everyday basis here, but there¡¯s still things to learn. And really, the priority is going to be winning games, and we¡¯ll put him in spots that hopefully help us do that.¡±

The ball never fell to Crow-Armstrong in the final two innings, but the Cubs did hold on for a 4-3 win. After the victory, the 22-year-old rookie said that the team¡¯s success comes before his personal stats right now.

Crow-Armstrong enjoyed a strong showing between Double-A Tennessee and Triple-A Iowa in 2023 -- hitting .283/.365/.511 with 20 homers, 26 doubles, 82 RBIs, 98 runs and 37 steals in 107 games -- before going 0-for-14 with the Cubs down the stretch. To start this season, the outfielder has hit just .203/.241/.392 with nine extra-base hits in 19 games for Iowa, but said he was feeling better in the batter¡¯s box than the early numbers would indicate.

And when Crow-Armstrong arrived to Wrigley Field on Wednesday, he said he had a great conversation with Counsell. The rookie said they touched not only on his current role with the Cubs, but how Crow-Armstrong has used his experience over the past year to improve his mental focus.

¡°I was able to kind of zoom out and look at the bigger picture here,¡± Crow-Armstrong said Wednesday night. ¡°And whatever level I'm at, I think what I've realized -- and what's so beautiful about Counsell laying stuff out for me today -- was at every level, I've come to find that winning really does make everything better.

¡°And so if you're going out there and making that your focus, then you could be scuffling at the plate like I was or like I will, and it'll be OK.¡±

Crow-Armstrong added that he feels that mentality is spreading through the system.

¡°Everybody's really bought into winning at whatever level,¡± he said. ¡°I think if you practice that and you get up here, I think it's a little easier to buy into that picture and play your role.¡±