CHICAGO -- Dodgers manager Dave Roberts has gotten to know Pete Crow-Armstrong a little bit, given that the Cubs¡¯ center fielder is friends with his son, Cole. During a pregame chat with reporters on Wednesday, Roberts said he liked the energy that Crow-Armstrong brings.
¡°He's a good kid, good for baseball,¡± Roberts said.
Crow-Armstrong just has not been good for the Dodgers.
On Wednesday night, Crow-Armstrong launched a three-run homer that helped spark another Cubs comeback en route to a 7-6 win over Los Angeles at Wrigley Field. Crow-Armstrong finished with four RBIs, a pair of stolen bases and collected three hits for the second night in a row against the Dodgers.
It was another all-around performance for the Cubs¡¯ spark plug, who has been on a tear over the past two weeks. That has included five games against the Dodgers that included the 23-year-old L.A. native going 10-for-22 (.455) with four homers, two doubles, one triple, nine RBIs and a slew of great catches in five games against his hometown team.
¡°It¡¯s what special players are capable of -- impacting all areas of the game,¡± Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. ¡°Swinging the bat. Power. Baserunning. Defense. It was a wonderful game and he made his presence felt in a big way, for sure.¡±
Roberts joked that Crow-Armstrong might need to send him a bottle of wine or some golf balls as a gift for all the success the center fielder has had against the Dodgers. At the very least, the Dodgers will be happy not to see Crow-Armstrong for the rest of the season.
¡°Good. That¡¯s what I¡¯m trying to do,¡± Crow-Armstrong quipped. ¡°It¡¯s been tough to watch them succeed so much in the last few years.¡±
Crow-Armstrong started slow in the batter¡¯s box this season, but headed into play Wednesday with 1.3 fWAR dating back to April 7. That was tied with Yankees superstar Aaron Judge for the best mark in the Majors in that span. Including Wednesday¡¯s performance, the center fielder is now hitting .393/.414/.804 with 12 extra-base hits, 13 runs, 14 RBIs and seven steals in 14 games since that date.
The three-run homer from Crow-Armstrong -- his fifth shot of the season -- combined with a four-run outburst in the fifth, helped the Cubs improve to 16-10 on the year. With Crow-Armstrong thriving in the bottom third of Chicago¡¯s high-powered offense, the Cubs have gone 4-1 against the Dodgers since dropping the two games between the teams in the season-opening Tokyo Series.
¡°Pete Crow-Armstrong has really killed us,¡± Roberts said. ¡°They're just all swinging the bats. They've pitched decent, but, yeah, they're just a much more confident team. And they're a good club. We knew that going into the season.¡±
Crow-Armstrong had an RBI double and a two-run homer within the Cubs¡¯ wild, 11-10, win over the Dodgers in 10 innings on Tuesday. He was the first one sprinting across the infield when Ian Happ delivered his walk-off single. And then Wednesday, Crow-Armstrong¡¯s homer gave Chicago a 3-2 lead in the fourth, and his RBI single capped off the four-run push in the fifth.
Following his home run, when Crow-Armstrong returned to center field for the fifth inning, he was greeted with loud ¡°P-C-A!¡± chants that have followed him from Tokyo to L.A. to Wrigley Field this season. The center fielder raised his arms in the air as he headed out to his position.
¡°That¡¯s one of my favorite parts of my day,¡± Crow-Armstrong said of interacting with the fans in the center-field bleachers. ¡°There were a number of Dodgers fans in the bleachers behind me, so I didn¡¯t feel like I got my full fix of getting to say hi. But that¡¯s the coolest thing ever.¡±
While patrolling center field, Crow-Armstrong was also a pest for L.A.
Statcast currently has Crow-Armstrong in the 100th percentile for Fielding Run Value, putting him at the very top of the Major League defensive class. He has a knack for making difficult plays routine, as he displayed again.
In the seventh inning, Tommy Edman sent a hard line drive to left-center, where Crow-Armstrong ran it down with apparent ease. Statcast gave the play a 10% catch probability.
¡°I¡¯ve been fortunate enough to play in front of some amazing center fielders,¡± said Cubs starter Matthew Boyd, who worked six innings in the win. ¡°I mean, he¡¯s at the top of [the list]. He¡¯s really, really good out there. Defensively, I¡¯ve got to say he¡¯s probably the best. And what he¡¯s doing at the plate is no surprise.¡±