One Troubling Stat Explains Pete Crow-Armstrong’s Cubs Struggles

One of the reasons that Chicago is in the position it is right now has been the performance of their All-Star center fielder, Pete Crow-Armstrong. His production took a nosedive right as fellow All-Star, Kyle Tucker, was also struggling. However, there was at least a reason behind his teammate's struggles.

It was revealed that Tucker had been dealing with a hairline fracture in his finger. It was drastically impacting his performance at the plate, with his numbers plummeting. However, after receiving a three-game break from manager Craig Counsell, he has gotten back on track.

Over his last 12 games, the All-Star right fielder has a .364/.462/.727 slash line with four home runs and four doubles, looking to put the summer struggles all the way behind him.

Pete Crow-Armstrong Struggling With Fastballs in Recent Weeks

While it is encouraging that Tucker is seemingly back to his All-Star production, the same cannot be said about Crow-Armstrong. He had one of the least productive Augusts in recent MLB history with a .160/.216/.230 slash line. As shared by nugget chef on X, his OPS and wRC+ were both the lowest entering the final day of the month and only worsened when he went 0-for-3 with a walk.

What has been the reason for this extended slump? Some regression to the mean was expected with how he approaches at-bats. There aren’t many players who are chasing at the rate he does. His 42.3% chase rate is in the second percentile. That leads to underwhelming whiff, strikeout and walk rates as well.

But the most concerning development for him in August was his inability to handle velocity. Also shared by nugget chef, Crow-Armstrong was hitting .111 against fastballs entering play on Aug. 31. Those are supposed to be the easiest offerings for hitters to handle, but they presented him with a lot of issues last month.

Until he proves capable of handling the heat, opponents are going to continue dialing up the radar gun agianst him. He is fairing much better against breaking balls and offspeed pitches this season, which has led to opposing pitchers challenging him more.

They have gotten the best of Crow-Armstrong recently, and he needs to go back to the drawing board to figure out how to get things back on track.

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