PCA strikes out three times in Game 1 loss

Crow-Armstrong took the senior circuit by storm this past season and is the overwhelming favorite to claim MVP honors after authoring a phenomenal 45-homer, 41-steal campaign. The 24-year-old finished as the most impactful hitter in the fantasy landscape while continuing to establish himself as one of the premier defensive center fielders in the game. He’s also just beginning to enter his physical prime, making this season feel more the start of his ascent rather than a metaphorical peak. Ohtani appeared poised to claim MVP honors for the fifth time in his remarkable career, thanks in large part to his extraordinary early-season work on the mound, before knee and biceps issues kept him from pitching in the second half.

The other NL winners were P Nolan McLean, C Gabriel Moreno, 1B Matt Olson, 2B Brice Turang, SS Geraldo Perdomo, 3B Alex Bregman, LF Jackson Chourio, RF Corbin Carroll and UT Mauricio Dubón. Crow-Armstrong and Olson are the only two returnees here from last year, though Dubón did win the AL utility Gold Glove last year. Fernando Tatis Jr. probably would have won again if left alone in right field, but his time at second base ruled him out there. Masyn Winn also had a really good case for repeating, but Perdomo got the nod at short.

Crow-Armstrong did draw a walk in Game 1, but he went 0-for-7 with four strikeouts as the Cubs’ leadoff hitter in the series. Alex Bregman went 0-for-8 in the two hole behind him. Crow-Armstrong also didn’t help matters tonight by wasting a challenge during the very first at-bat of the game. It’s definitely not how he was looking forward to completing his MVP campaign. However, through 10 career postseason games, he’s 5-for-34 with no extra-base hits and a 16/2 K/BB ratio.

Chicago manager Craig Counsell will stick with a near-identical lineup, with the exception of Matt Shaw at the hot corner instead of Pedro Ramírez, after Tuesday’s unexpected Game 1 shutout loss at the hands of Michael King and the Padres. Crow-Armstrong struck out three times in four plate appearances in that defeat. Here’s the full lineup: Crow-Armstrong (CF), Alex Bregman (DH), Michael Busch (1B), Seiya Suzuki (RF), Ian Happ (LF), Nico Hoerner (2B), Matt Shaw (3B), Carson Kelly (C) and Dansby Swanson (SS).

Bregman is ready for the start of the postseason after returning to Chicago’s lineup less than one week after suffering multiple facial fractures when he was hit by a foul ball in the on-deck circle. It’ll be rookie Pedro Ramírez filling in at the hot corner with Bregman limited to DH as he continues to recover. Here’s the full lineup for Tuesday’s series opener in San Diego: Pete Crow-Armstrong (CF), Bregman (DH), Michael Busch (1B), Seiya Suzuki (RF), Ian Happ (LF), Nico Hoerner (2B), Ramírez (3B), Carson Kelly (C) and Dansby Swanson (SS).

Crow-Armstrong wraps up a phenomenal season that should see him become the unanimous NL MVP Award winner with a .280/.372/.570 triple-slash line, 119 runs scored, 45 home runs, 107 RBI and 41 stolen bases across 162 games. The 24-year-old made the leap to fantasy superstardom this season with the seventh 40-40 campaign in baseball history, becoming the first player in Cubs history to accomplish the feat. He’ll lead Chicago into the postseason when they open their best-of-three NL Wild Card Series against the Padres on Tuesday.

Crow-Armstrong has his 40/40 season and NL MVP honors all locked up, but still to be seen if whether he’ll finish a rare 10 bWAR season. He entered today with 9.9, and that probably didn’t go up with a .125/.222/.125 doubleheader. Aaron Judge has the only 10 bWAR seasons of the decade, coming in at 10.8 in 2022 and 10.9 in 2024. Mike Trout also has two such seasons and Mookie Betts has one, but no National Leaguer has finished at 10 since Barry Bonds in 2004.

He joins Shohei Ohtani (2024), Ronald Acuna Jr. (2023), Alfonso Soriano (2006), Alex Rodriguez (1998), Barry Bonds (1996) and Jose Canseco (1988) to accomplish the remarkable feat. Soon he’s likely to add a National League MVP award to his list of honors. Crow-Armstrong finished the afternoon 1-for-3 with a walk and a single and is now slashing a robust .280/.373/.575 to go with 45 homers, 107 RBI, 119 runs scored and 40 stolen bases in what has been an exceptional season.

Crow-Armstrong, bouncing back after going 0-for-10 in the first two games of the series, is now tied with Kyle Schwarber for the major league lead with 45 homers. He’s first with 118 runs scored and third with 107 RBI. The steal today was his 38th, and there’s little doubt he’ll get the two he needs for 40 during the Cubs’ final six games.

Javier never really had it in this one. He put himself in trouble instantly by walking the first two batters of the game, but narrowly escaped that jam with two pop-ups. Then the Royals put runners on the corners with one out in the second and again he managed to find a way out of that without a run on the board. Finally the Royals got some runs across in the fourth when John Rave socked a two-run home run. Despite another threat in the sixth, those would be the only two runs on Javier’s final ledger. Just a bit less crisp than he had been lately, Javier struggled to put hitters away and that led to both too many base runners and too much traffic for him to navigate through six innings. He’s tentatively lined up for a two-start week to close the season against both the Mariners and Athletics on the road. Just be advised upcoming schedules are merely a guess this time of year.