Sunday, July 27

Welcome back to the Cubs Beat newsletter. David Adler wrote the first section and Theo DeRosa wrote the second section of this edition.

By now, every Major League team knows it: The easiest way to slug is to hit the ball out in front and pull the ball in the air. 

But you still need the players to do it. You need the hitters with the skill to drive the ball in the air, and the mindset to buy into that approach. 

This season, the Cubs have built a pulled airball machine. And they've become one of the best teams in the National League in the process. 

"It's not something we identified as a team and said, 'Hey, as a team, we are going to pull balls in the air.' That wasn't a message I gave in Spring Training," hitting coach Dustin Kelly said. "[But] we have the personnel that has the ability to do it."

Last season, the Cubs ranked 22nd in the Major Leagues in pulled air contact. Only 16.8% of their batted balls were pulled in the air. This season, they are tied for first. (Stats are entering play Wednesday.)

Teams with the highest pulled airball % in 2025

Cubs: 21.2%

Guardians: 21.2%

Tigers: 20.2%

Dodgers: 19.8%

Royals: 19.8%

The Cubs' three star sluggers are leading the way: Kyle Tucker, Pete Crow-Armstrong and Seiya Suzuki. Tucker has been pulling balls in the air his whole life. But PCA and Suzuki have made adjustments to tap into their pull power this season. 

The vast majority of the damage is to the pull side. Look at the home runs, especially. Tucker, PCA and Suzuki all rank in the top 10 in the Majors in pulled homers this season.

The benefits of Chicago's hitting style are obvious. Pulled fly balls and line drives are the quickest pathway to home runs and extra-base hits. The Cubs lead the NL with a .446 team slugging percentage, rank second to the Dodgers with 150 homers and rank second to the D-backs with 342 extra-base hits.

"Just, overall, production is better in the air," Kelly said. "And I think nowadays everybody knows that. You can't trick 'em. You can't trick [hitters] and say, 'Hey, you've got to stay on the ground here because you're fast, you're going to get more hits.' No. They see the reports just like we do -- when they hit the ball high and hard, it's usually good results."

Even for a speedster like Crow-Armstrong, that holds true. PCA's leap to stardom this season has been driven by his power surge -- he's always had the elite speed and defense, but the 26-home-run power is new. And it's all to the pull side. 

"I think it's a contact point thing," Crow-Armstrong said. "I'm just playing the game out front. Simplified some things in the swing. So I would probably just say [it's because of] that." 

PCA moved back in the batter's box to see pitches a little longer, switched to a bigger bat, and is now unloading on the ball. Over 28% of his batted balls this season are pulled in the air, just outside the top 10 in MLB. Last season, that number was under 20%. 

"As I've gotten better every year, I've started to use my body better to put the ball in the air," Crow-Armstrong said. "I've always had a little bit of lift in my swing. I'm just taking advantage of that more this year."

He's had one of the biggest jumps in pulled air contact of any big league hitter. The biggest? That belongs to his teammate, Suzuki. 

Largest increases in pulled airball %, 2024 to 2025

1. Seiya Suzuki: +11.2 percentage points (15.2% to 26.4%)

2. Alex Bregman: +10.0 points

3. Cal Raleigh: +9.0 points

4. Pete Crow-Armstrong: +8.8 points (19.3% to 28.1%)

5. Ryan McMahon: +7.7 points  

While PCA made some mechanical changes, Suzuki's have been more mental. 

"We've shown him over the years that when he hits the ball in the air, his numbers are much better," Kelly said. "With Seiya, there was a lot more of, 'Hey, you're gonna get your swing off earlier. You're gonna be more aggressive in the zone. You're looking to do damage to the pull side in the air.' And we're seeing that happen."

Getting to watch Tucker hit in Chicago this year, Kelly said, has been a positive influence on Suzuki and his own slugging. Tucker has been an elite pull-power hitter since he first broke out with the Astros. 

"Tucker? Tucker's Tucker," Kelly said. "We haven't touched any of his approach."

The Cubs don't need to. In each of Tucker's four consecutive All-Star seasons from 2022 to 2025, he's boasted a pulled airball rate well over 20%. This year, he's at 25.6%. His hitting technique has translated perfectly from Houston to Chicago.

"Some guys probably just naturally do it more than others," Tucker said. "I just try to have a good point of contact. If you have a good swing direction and sense of what you want to do at the plate, it puts you in a better position to do stuff like that. I don't try to force it or anything … I just try to catch the ball a little bit out in front, hit it hard in the air and stay through it."

Plenty of young baseball fans look up to Crow-Armstrong. At least one of them wants to look like him, too.

Over the weekend, kids in Chicago’s Wrigleyville area held a lemonade stand to raise money for an unusual cause: getting a haircut to match Crow-Armstrong’s Spring Training style.

So imagine their surprise when Crow-Armstrong himself walked right up.

“PETE CROW-ARMSTRONG!” one youngster yelled in excitement.

Another pointed out the PCA fan, already bleached blond, who was hoping to get a (literally) stellar haircut.

“He’s going to get stars in his head if we get enough money,” Crow-Armstrong was told.

The All-Star outfielder signed an autograph for the kids, gave them the money to get the haircut and took a photo with the young fan in question. And it didn't take long for the fan, Madden, to get his new 'do.

The kind gesture is in line with Crow-Armstrong’s advice to children who look up to him when he was mic’d up during the 2025 All-Star Game.

“I hope you be exactly how you are supposed to be,” he said.

Apparently, for at least one young fan, that means looking just like one of MLB’s brightest young stars.

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