Cubs Rookie Pete Crow-Armstrong Homers For First Career MLB Hit 

   Thursday’s series finale against the Houston Astros at Wrigley Field provided a moment that rookie outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong will never forget. 

   The 22-year-old, called up from Triple-A Iowa on Wednesday after Cody Bellinger (fractured ribs) hit the 10-day IL, hadn’t recorded a hit over his first 14 big-league games dating back to last season. But all that changed during Game No. 15. 

   Amidst an 0-for-16 skid to start his young major-league career, Crow-Armstrong stepped to the plate in the sixth inning with two runners on and the Cubs trailing 1-0 as he watched Astros reliever Bryan Abreu enter out of the bullpen. 

   He took a first-pitch heater from Abreu for ball one. Then, on the next pitch, he turned on a middle of the plate fastball for a three-run blast to right, recording a go-ahead home run for his first big-league hit. 

   Crow-Armstrong’s home run travelled a projected 396 feet and came off his bat at 107.2 mph. 

   The left-handed-hitting outfielder finished 1-for-4 with that three-run bomb, supplying Chicago with enough run support to secure a 3-1 victory, completing the three-game sweep of Houston. 

   Putting an end to his hitting drought lifted a massive weight off Crow-Armstrong’s shoulders, a moment he celebrated with his teammates after rounding the bases in front of thousands of roaring Cubs fans at Wrigley Field. 

   “Freeing,” Crow-Armstrong told reporters of his go-ahead blast post-game, including MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian. “Freeing, for sure.”

Crow-Armstrong met with the fan who caught his home-run ball after the game, exchanging a signed bat – the same one he used during Thursday’s game – and a ball for the one he hit off Abreu. 

   The 2020 19th-overall selection became the first Cubs player to hit a go-ahead home run in the sixth inning or later for his first MLB hit since Javier Báez, the player he was traded for in the 2021 mid-season blockbuster with the New York Mets.

   Báez played 47 games in Queens that season before becoming a free agent and signing a six-year, $127-million contract with the Detroit Tigers during the 2021-22 off-season. 

   Crow-Armstrong made his major league debut with the Cubs last September, appearing in 13 games down the stretch while going 0-for-14 with three walks and seven strikeouts. He went 2-for-2 in stolen base attempts after swiping 37 in the minors prior to his call-up. 

   The Sherman Oaks, CA native hit 20 home runs and 82 RBIs while slashing .283/.365/.511 with a 127 wRC+ across 107 games split between double-A and triple-A last season. He was hitting a measly .203 with 24 strikeouts in 19 games with Iowa prior to being called up earlier this week. 

   With Bellinger and Seiya Suzuki (oblique) injured, Crow-Armstrong should receive considerable playing time moving forward, particularly versus right-handed pitching. He’ll share the outfield with Mike Tauchman, Ian Happ and Alexander Canario. 

   Injuries have also plagued the Cubs on the pitching front, with Justin Steele (hamstring), Kyle Hendricks (back), Julian Merryweather (ribs), Drew Smyly (hip) and Caleb Kilian (shoulder) on the IL. Jameson Taillon (back) also missed the first three-plus weeks of the season before returning last week. 

   Despite missing several key players, Chicago sits just a half-game back of the NL Central-leading Milwaukee Brewers heading into Friday’s series opener in Boston versus the Red Sox.

-Thomas Hall

Twitter: @Hall_Thomas_

Photo: Erik Drost. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

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