Monday, May 04

Welcome back to the Cubs Beat newsletter. Jordan Bastian has covered baseball for MLB.com since 2005, including the Cubs since the 2019 season.

CHICAGO -- Pete Crow-Armstrong glided through Wrigley Field’s right-center-field gap back on April 10, chasing down a line drive off the bat of Pittsburgh’s Marcell Ozuna. The center fielder caught it low and went into a slide on the grass to slow his momentum.

That seventh-inning catch was not the type that would go viral as a social-media clip. For the Cubs center fielder, it looked routine. That slide? It hardly looked necessary. Crow-Armstrong probably could have made the grab and finished on the run. And then you look at the data and Statcast shows it had only a 10% catch probability.

“Right now, in my brain, he’s had like one or two great plays,” Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said. “And yet, his defensive numbers are off the charts, which I think is really a testament to how easy he makes it look. Line drives in the gap and he floats over and makes these 20% catch probabilities at his head.”

Crow-Armstrong had a historic defensive season last year, when he won the first National League Gold Glove Award of his career. And if you can believe it, the Cubs center fielder appears to be getting even better. It is just hard to notice, because of how smooth Crow-Armstrong looks running down fly balls other outfielders would not even reach.

Heading into Sunday, Crow-Armstrong was leading the Major Leagues in Fielding Run Value (eight) and Outs Above Average (eight, first for outfielders and tied with Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. among all positions). Where it really starts to get impressive under the hood is the numbers he is posting related to his jumps.

“He’s really mastering it,” said Quintin Berry, the Cubs third-base and outfield coach.

Crow-Armstrong arrived to the Majors as an elite defender, but the addition of a “prep step” -- similar to how an infielder hops into position as a pitch is being delivered -- helped the center fielder find another level last year. The numbers so far this season show that Crow-Armstrong is still making gains in that area.

Jump (feet above average)

2026: 5.7

2025: 4.1

2024: 2.8

Burst (feet covered in first 1.6-3.0 seconds)

2026: 3.4

2025: 2.7

2024: 2.5

Feet covered

2026: 40.5

2025: 38.9

2024: 37.4

Crow-Armstrong is currently leading all Major League outfielders in all three of those jump-related categories. For comparison, Tristan Peters of the White Sox is second in both Jump (4.4), Burst (2.6) and feet covered (38.8). Maybe that does not look like much, but an extra couple feet can be the difference between a running catch or one requiring an all-out diving attempt -- or not getting to the spot at all.

Crow-Armstrong laughed when told that his jump statistics have improved from last year.

“Well, that’s sick,” Crow-Armstrong said. “If anything, I’ve actually felt like my timing’s been off a little bit. … The jump was the thing that took the biggest step forward last year, so if we’re continuing to do that, then I think that’s huge.”

What does that information tell him?

“I think it’s just reps, man,” Crow-Armstrong said. “I believe that the only real outfield work you can get is batting practice and reading the ball off the bat. Now that I’ve done this specific prep step for over a year, it’s just reps.”

Last year, Crow-Armstrong set a Statcast Era (since 2015) record with 19 five-star catches (0-25% catch probability), shattering Billy Hamilton’s previous mark (12 in 2016). So far, he has four five-star catches this year. He has converted 23 outs on plays with 0-95% catch probability, with an 85.2% success rate (up from 83.2% last year).

If you narrow it to 0-90% catch probability (two-plus star catches), Crow-Armstrong headed into Sunday tied with Tampa Bay’s Chandler Simpson with the most in the Majors (15 apiece). Crow-Armstrong has the edge over Simpson in both Outs Above Average (eight to three) and conversion rate (83.3% to 71.4%) on those plays.

“Last year, he was getting more and more comfortable as the year went on,” Berry said. “He was getting better, but I think he understands, and at the end of the year he saw, all the benefits of doing the prep step and what it was doing for him. He is all-in on it. He knows it can make him one of the best, if not the best, outfielder in the game.”

At his current pace, Cubs second baseman Nico Hoerner could flirt with a 200-hit season this year. Who was the last player to have at least 200 hits in a campaign for the North Siders?

A) Ryne Sandberg

B) Billy Williams

C) Starlin Castro

D) Juan Pierre

Prior to Saturday’s game against the D-backs, Hoerner, left fielder Ian Happ and Crow-Armstrong were presented with their Gold Glove Awards for ‘25. Berry and Major League coach Jonathan Mota, who works with the infielders, joined the players to accept the Cubs’ team Gold Glove Award.

“They’re the guys doing the work every day,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said of Berry and Mota. “And the players appreciate that work they’ve done. We’ve got some really talented defenders. We’ve also got some guys that like to work at it and continue to get better at it. And Jonathan and Quintin are responsible for that work.”

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“I’m glad they got to be up there. That is as much theirs as it is the whole team’s. I’ve got Q to thank for a lot of my success last year, just in terms of helping me figure some stuff out and bring some new stuff to my attention. And then Mota is grinding, dude, like every day. He’s got a routine with everybody. … I’m glad they could be recognized for something that I feel like coaches may not always be recognized for. It was awesome.” – Crow-Armstrong, on Berry and Mota

C) Starlin Castro

Castro was the last Cubs player to collect at least 200 hits in a single season, churning out 207 hits in 2011. He ended his campaign batting .307 in 158 games for Chicago. Pierre (204 in 2006) did it previous to Castro to end a 21-year drought for that milestone for the Cubs (Sandberg had an even 200 in 1984).

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