Pete Crow-Armstrong has found a home at top of Cubs lineup

Saturday continued the remarkable stretch. Crow-Armstrong blasted the home run, his 16th of the season, 400 feet to right field, getting the most out of the 82 mph splitter low in the zone. Per Baseball Savant, it would have been a home run in all 30 MLB ballparks.

Crow-Armstrong's season breakthrough gives Counsell one less thing to fix as Chicago tries to get back into the NL Central race. Despite having two 10-game win streaks earlier this season, the Cubs (40-37) are third in the division and seven games behind the first-place Milwaukee Brewers, who entered Saturday with a 45-28 record.

Since May 9, the Cubs have been the worst team in baseball, going 13-25, a half-game worse than the Colorado Rockies, who play the Pittsburgh Pirates later Saturday. (h/t FanGraphs)

During that same stretch, Crow-Armstrong leads MLB in wins above replacement (WAR). It hasn't translated to the win column due to pitching deficiencies. Cubs starters ranked No. 29 in the majors in ERA since May 9 (5.80) ahead of Saturday's loss. While Colin Rea pitched 5.1 scoreless innings, the relief staff crumbled, with Trent Thornton, Caleb Thielbar and Jacob Webb combining for eight earned runs in 1.2 innings.

Even with Crow-Armstrong finding a home at the top of the lineup, the Cubs must get everyone else back on track. If not, Chicago will be in danger of wasting its star outfielder's homecoming.