CHICAGO (AP) — Pete Crow-Armstrong is flashing his talent — and showing more emotion.
The speedy Chicago Cubs center fielder beat his chest after he lined a triple off the glove of his White Sox counterpart, Luis Robert Jr., in the Cubs’ 6-2 win over their crosstown rivals on Sunday at Wrigley Field.
Moments later, Crow-Armstrong called himself safe at the plate when he scored on Seiya Suzuki’s sacrifice fly.
Crow-Armstrong also drove in the go-ahead run with a sixth-inning double as the NL Central-leading Cubs completed a three-game sweep of the White Sox.
After a slow start this season, the 23-year-old has reached base in career-high 15 straight games. Crow-Armstrong is 11 for his last 21, raising his average to .290 and powering a Cubs lineup that had produced the second-most runs in baseball entering Sunday.
He also has 12 homers, 38 RBIs and 14 stolen bases in 47 games this season, along with some flashy catches. There’s no reason for Crow-Armstrong, drafted 19th overall by the Mets in 2020, to hold back, especially in front of sellout crowds at Wrigley.
“I think that’s just who I am,” he said. “You don’t really have those moments where you really think about how you’re going to react to a double of triple or anything like that. Nothing about this (stuff) is planned. I think baseball brings it out of all of us. It’s about the sport.”
Crow-Armstrong came to the Cubs in a 2021 deal that sent Javier Báez and Trevor Williams to the New York Mets. He got into 13 games in 2023, then played 123 last season with a .237 average and 10 homers.
“Knowing my role and what was asked of me early was one other bigger learning curves, but that’s only because I wasn’t playing well and I didn’t know how to impact,” Crow-Armstrong said.
Crow-Armstrong learned in a hurry. Cubs manager Craig Counsell has shown his faith in the Sherman Oaks, California, native, who batted leadoff on Sunday.
“That’s probably the best example of people giving me space, to fail first of all, but giving me every day, every chance that I’ve got just to be myself and play my kind of baseball,” Crow-Armstrong said.
As for his apparent role as an emotional leader?
“I think we have our fair share of dudes who like to let it pop,” Crow-Armstrong said. “You know when the time calls for it. … Probably, you see a little bit more from me.”
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