It certainly hasn’t been the second half Pete Crow-Armstrong would have envisioned for himself, but the electric Chicago Cubs outfielder still managed to make some history on Friday.
In a lopsided 12-1 win over the St. Louis Cardinals, Crow-Armstrong clubbed a fourth-inning blast against starting pitcher Miles Mikolas. It was the 23-year-old’s 30th blast of the season, and that put him in some rare air among the many players who have come and gone in the club’s illustrious history.
Remarkably, Crow-Armstrong became just the second player in Cubs history to notch 30 home runs and 30 stolen bases in a season, per Jordan Bastian of MLB.com. Sammy Sosa did it twice, in 1993 and 1995.
Crow-Armstrong concluded play on Friday with 35 stolen bases to go along with his 30 blasts. Though he’s had a disappointing second half, he’s still come a long way from his 10-homer campaign a year ago.
Sosa, who had three 60-homer seasons later in his career, totaled 33 homers and 36 steals in 1993, and 36 homers and 34 steals in ’95.
At the All-Star break, Crow-Armstrong looked like a bona fide Most Valuable Player candidate. But from July 18 through Thursday, he totaled just four home runs, a .207 batting average, and a .595 OPS in 59 games. He’d also been caught stealing four times to eight stolen bases, compared to 27 steals and four times caught before the break.
On the whole, Crow-Armstrong has still had a fantastic year, but his 105 wRC+ (entering Friday) is eye-opening, considering how much more impressive a season he seemed to be headed toward achieving.
This second half can be a learning experience for Crow-Armstrong, and fortunately, he still has a postseason run ahead to establish some momentum for himself heading into the offseason.
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