Chicago Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong has prided himself on finding ways to elevate his game.
The team’s lone All-Star has been focused on improving his performance against left-handers, and it has yielded strong returns for him and the Cubs this season against southpaws.
“I think Pete’s improvement against left-handed pitching is significant as to one of the reasons why we’ve improved (against left-handed pitchers),” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said before their 6-4 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday at Wrigley Field. “But overall, we’ve done a nice job against left-handed pitchers.”
Crow-Armstrong was 1-for-2 with a hit by pitch against Cardinals left-hander Matthew Liberatore in Sunday’s series finale. The Cubs jumped out to a two-run lead in the first inning as Liberatore struggled with command issues, walking a batter and hitting two more.
The Cubs have been one of the best teams against left-handers this season, posting a .776 OPS, the second-best mark in the major leagues. It’s Crow-Armstrong’s development against same-sided pitching that has been a boon to the Cubs’ lineup.
He’s hitting a career-best .286 with a .922 OPS against left-handers this season, up from a .188 and .594 mark in 2025. Crow-Armstrong has raised that mark by inching closer to the plate, quite literally, which has allowed him to improve his discipline.
“I think since the season started, just his discipline, just his ball-strike against left-handed pitching, that’s been consistent throughout the year,” Counsell said. “One of the things he did to make better swing decisions is to move up on the plate. It’s something he did early in the year. I think it’s helped.”
Crow-Armstrong was 26.9 inches off the plate against left-handers last season, per Baseball Savant. He was 27 inches off the plate in April and has begun to creep closer since then — 24.4 inches in May, and 23.7 inches in June and the first few games of July.
Of course, being closer to the plate can leave him vulnerable to the inside pitch. He was hit on his left forearm by a 93.8 mph sinker from Liberatore in the second inning. Trainer Nick Frangella and Counsell checked on Crow-Armstrong after the hit by pitch, but he remained in the game. It’s the sixth time he’s been hit by a pitch thrown by a lefty, doubling the number of times he was plunked in 2025.
“Weirdly enough, getting on the dish has made me feel like I have more time to cover all parts of the plate against those guys,” Crow-Armstrong said on Friday, before the three-game set against the Cardinals.
The uptick in production against left-handers has been a welcome surprise to the 24-year-old, who feels like he continues to discover his potential. Friday, he was named the National League player of the month for June after hitting .381 with 11 home runs, 20 RBIs and eight stolen bases.
“I mean, I know that I’m capable of this kind of production,” Crow-Armstrong said on Friday. “I think it’s more so just about coming here every day and when the game starts, just doing everything I can to repeat the kind of production.
“I’m excited to keep finding out what I’m really capable of and just making sure that I do that and do that for this team.”
The two-run lead gave Cubs starter Javier Assad some leeway after a sluggish second inning. The right-hander loaded the bases with two outs in the frame, then retired 10 straight Cardinals. Assad finished the day tossing 4 2/3 scoreless innings with two hits, two walks and two strikeouts.
“You just try to attack the zone,” Assad said. “(Catcher Carson) Kelly also did a great job calling pitches. I think everything came out well. The changing of speed, the changeup, curveball, sinker, fastball, everything worked well for me.
“That (second) inning, I battled a bit, but I think I attacked the zone well and threw my pitches well.”
That left the Cubs’ bullpen to cover 13 outs and, in the sixth, they ran into trouble. Jordan Walker, named to the All-Star Game on Saturday, crushed a three-run home run off Tyler Ferguson that gave the Cardinals the lead.
The Cubs responded in the bottom half of the frame by capitalizing on a pair of crucial errors from St. Louis. Tied at three with runners on first and second, Dansby Swanson hit a potential inning-ending double-play ground ball to third baseman José Fermín. Fermín’s throw sailed past JJ Wetherholt at second base, allowing Michael Busch to score and each runner to advance two bases.
The next batter, pinch-hitter Pedro Ramírez, hit a sacrifice fly to right that plated Nico Hoerner. Walker’s throw from right flew past Fermín at third and into the Cubs’ dugout, scoring Swanson.
“There was contact and they made some mistakes, but the ball has to be in play for mistakes to happen,” Counsell said after the win. “And we took advantage of some mistakes for a big inning. I think it is a case where you don’t often get those breaks, but we got some breaks.”
Taillon’s rehab outing
Jameson Taillon (left hamstring) allowed one run on four hits in 3 1/3 innings during a rehab assignment with High-A South Bend on Sunday. Taillon threw 45 pitches in the outing.
“The fact that he pitched today is a really good sign for us,” Counsell said.
Andy Martinez is a freelance reporter for the Chicago Tribune.
