PCA slugs 16th homer as Cubs fall to Blue Jays

Michael Conforto, Carson Kelly and Seiya Suzuki joined Crow-Armstrong in homering for the Cubs. Crow-Armstrong’s first was just 94.2 mph off the bat, but it traveled 350 feet anyway. The second was hit 106.7 mph and was projected at 419 feet. Crow-Armstrong also walked and scored a third run in the contest. He’s the first player to go 20/20 this year, having totaled 21 homers and 23 steals. Last year, he finished the first half with 25 homers and 27 steals, though he went on to add on just six homers and eight steals after the break. He’ll probably slow down some this year, too, but the improvement in his plate discipline makes it unlikely that he’ll again experience such a dramatic decline.

Chicago’s 23 runs are the most they’ve scored in a game since 1995, and their eight homers tied a franchise record. PCA has been on an absolute heater lately, and he finished June with a .381/.468/.781 triple slash line before homering on the first day of July. The former Mets prospect has more than doubled his walk rate from last season, and he’s now up to 19 homers and 21 stolen bases on the year. Crow-Armstrong isn’t running quite as aggressively as he did in 2025, but all the extra times on base could lead to him beating the 35 thefts he accumulated last season.

Crow-Armstrong has vowed to participate at some point in his career, but it won’t be during this year’s Midsummer Classic. The 24-year-old fantasy force has been one of the hottest hitters in baseball since the start of June, crushing 10 homers across 25 contests during that span.

With the pair of steals, PCA is now up to 20 on the season. That puts him just under a 40 stolen-base pace, and the way he’s gotten on base — he drew three walks Sunday — suggests that he’s going to have a chance to reach that figure in 2026.

Crow-Armstrong also added a single. The 24-year-old doubled home Matt Shaw in the 10th to give The Cugs their lead and ultimately the victory. He’s doubled 13 times in 2026, and he’s up to 45 runs driven in on the season, putting him right around a 90-RBI pace. After a very slow start to the season, Crow-Armstrong has been brilliant with the bat. The question is if he can consistently be this level of player through a full season. If he can, he’s going to be one of the best players in baseball for a long time when you consider how great he is with the glove.

Crow-Armstrong was also involved in the game’s most controversial play; he tried to steal second on what was ball four to Michael Busch in the seventh, only to be called out after touching and then coming off the bag on his slide. Of course, PCA was entitled to second base with the walk, but once he came off the bag on the slide, that protection ended. Craig Counsell was tossed out for arguing the play, but technically, it was all called correctly. The Cubs went on to win 9-6 anyway.

He was pulled for Justin Dean after five plate appearances as the Cubs made the score a little too lopsided. We doubt fantasy managers are too upset with the results. Crow-Armstrong, hitting .237/.325/.388 at the end of May, is now hitting .283/.359/.510 and has added eight homers and five stolen bases over the last 15 games while slugging .937. Enjoy the ride.

This guy is on fire. Crow-Armstrong has now homered in three consecutive games, four times in his last five, and eight times already in June. This one was funny too, sneaking just inside the right field foul pole. At the time, this gave the Cubs an 8-1 lead in a game they eventually only won 8-6. Nevertheless, Crow-Armstrong’s slow start to the season feels like a distant memory as he’s now one of the only players in the league on a 30 homer, 30 steal pace with a .276 batting average that’s nearly 30 points higher than where it wound up last season. He is a bonafide superstar.

Crow-Armstrong started the Cubs’ half of the first inning with a home run off Michael Lorenzen, his sixth home run of June already. He then started the Cubs’ half of the third inning with a triple. With the hard parts out of the way now, he doubled in the fifth inning before clinching the cycle with a single in the seventh inning. PCA is hitting .277 with 13 home runs, 43 runs scored, 35 RBI and 16 stolen bases.

PCA’s fifth homer in June got things off to a great start against Trevor McDonald, and the Cubs never looked back. Crow-Armstrong is now up to .263/.341/.462 for the year. He was hitting .236/.306/.369 on this date a month ago.