2026 Cubs Heroes and Goats: Pete Crow-Armstrong is the Superhero vs. the Mets

Stop me if you are getting tired of that headline. PCA has been on an unbelievable tear. Sammy Sosa, Derrek Lee, maybe Kris Bryant? Maybe Andre Dawson? How many Cubs have we seen have a run like this? Sammy is the most obvious, but I remember each of the other recent Cub MVPs having their stretches of dominance. With all due respect to the late Ryne Sandberg, his excellence was different. More relentless than flat domination.

PCA has a 1.327 OPS over his 24-game on-base streak. I believe Sammy Sosa’s June 1998 is the gold standard for the modern Cubs. He had a 198 wRC+ and 1.173 OPS. PCA is sitting at 282 and 1.434. There is just under a week to go and a doubleheader in there. This is some kind of hot streak.

One last thing in this PCA appreciation post. Yes, it’s silly that the haters are not voting PCA into the All-Stars. Also yes, his peers and NL coaches will vote him onto the team. I’d rather be the guy the players want to watch than the guys the fans want to watch. Does anyone really care that he might get one or two fewer plate appearances? He’s an All-Star. And he’s going to receive MVP votes again. I couldn’t really care less what the fans of other teams think about him. I assure you virtually all of them would love him if he was on their team.

As to the Cubs, you know where I am. They win these games. An opposing starter struggled and everyone ran to the bat rack and they piled on runs. They are good at those. They are good when the other bullpen blows up. They aren’t very good otherwise. Winning is fun. Scoring nine is fun. Crooked number innings are fun. I enjoyed this one.

The Cubs pitched relatively well before the garbage time of the ninth inning. Jayden Murray facing six batters, striking out two, allowing two hits and three runs was crazy. I hope they can find whatever they think they see. Of course, the bigger story is the same old story there. Edward Cabrera leaves with an injury. It’s a hamstring/adductor injury. We won’t see much (any?) of Cabrera the rest of the season. Matthew Boyd hopefully replaces Cabrera. But that’s a shame when you hoped Boyd would be an add and not a replace.

Of all the things I hate most being right about, it is that the Cubs got through 2025 relatively healthy. The injuries they had were headliners, so you remember them. But they had relatively few secondary injuries. They are being ravaged by them this year and they are particularly concentrated on the pitching staff, having a significant compounding effect. Somehow, this team is more or less on the trajectory that was expected before the season.

Today is a big day. Definitely don’t lose two. It’s a PCA world and we are all just living in it.

• Dansby Swanson actually had the biggest day. Two hits, a homer and a double. A sacrifice fly. Four runs driven in. Pray he’s turned a corner.

• Pete Crow-Armstrong. Superstar. Just one hit, but two more walks. Oh and the one hit was a three-run homer. After three straight Cubs didn’t get a hit with RISP, he got a three-run homer. And hey, the Cubs did score two runs on the three not hits with RISP (walk and sac fly).

• Carson Kelly stays hot. A hit, two walks, two runs driven in, three runs scored. The Cubs had eight hits, but drew seven walks and had a hit batter. Near constant pressure.

Dansby Swanson actually had the biggest day. Two hits, a homer and a double. A sacrifice fly. Four runs driven in. Pray he’s turned a corner.

Pete Crow-Armstrong. Superstar. Just one hit, but two more walks. Oh and the one hit was a three-run homer. After three straight Cubs didn’t get a hit with RISP, he got a three-run homer. And hey, the Cubs did score two runs on the three not hits with RISP (walk and sac fly).

Carson Kelly stays hot. A hit, two walks, two runs driven in, three runs scored. The Cubs had eight hits, but drew seven walks and had a hit batter. Near constant pressure.

Game 78, June 23: Cubs 9, Mets 6 (41-37)

Reminder: Heroes and Goats are determined by WPA scores and are in no way subjective.

• Superhero: Pete Crow-Armstrong (.174). 1-3, HR, 2 BB, 3 RBI, R

• Hero: Carson Kelly (.123). 1-2, 2B, 2 BB, 2 RBI, 3 R

• Sidekick: Dansby Swanson (.108). 2-3, HR, 2B, 4 RBI, R

Superhero: Pete Crow-Armstrong (.174). 1-3, HR, 2 BB, 3 RBI, R

Hero: Carson Kelly (.123). 1-2, 2B, 2 BB, 2 RBI, 3 R

Sidekick: Dansby Swanson (.108). 2-3, HR, 2B, 4 RBI, R

• Billy Goat:Nico Hoerner (-.082). 1-4, 2B, R

• Goat: Michael Busch (-.031). 0-4, BB

• Kid: Alex Bregman (-.029). 0-5

Billy Goat:Nico Hoerner (-.082). 1-4, 2B, R

Goat: Michael Busch (-.031). 0-4, BB

Jayden Murray’s ninth inning was in a no leverage situation and didn’t affect WPA.

WPA Play of the Game: Pete Crow-Armstrong’s three-run homer with two outs in the second gave the Cubs a five run lead. (.187)

Cubs Play of the Game: Francisco Alvarez’ two out single with the bases loaded cut a five-run Cub lead to three. (.106)

Game 77 Winner: Colin Rea 66-55 over PCA (135 votes)

Rizzo Award Standings: (Top 5/Bottom 5)

The award is named for Anthony Rizzo, who finished first in this category three of the first four years it was in existence and four times overall. He also recorded the highest season total ever at +65.5. The point scale is three points for a Superhero down to negative three points for a Billy Goat.

• Michael Busch +20

• Pete Crow-Armstrong +19

• Ben Brown +13.5

• Carson Kelly +12.5

• Michael Conforto +9

• Edward Cabrera -9.5

• Phil Maton/Dansby Swanson -10

• Caleb Thielbar -13

• Seiya Suzuki -19.5

Up Next: A double header Wednesday. Shōta Imanaga will start one of the games and Javier Assad the other. They’ll face Nolan McLean and Sean Manaea for the Mets.