CHICAGO -- Pete Crow-Armstrong's frustrations had grown visibly apparent Monday afternoon at Wrigley Field. Through five innings of the Cubs’ series opener against the Braves, the All-Star center fielder had a groundout and a flyout, and could be heard angrily screaming after the latter.
“I think there’s natural frustration for a guy like him,” said president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer, acknowledging the lengthy slump Crow-Armstrong was enduring coming into Monday’s game. “Some guys, you don’t see it. With him, you’re going to see it, and I think that’s OK. That’s who he is, and he shouldn’t change that.”
Come the sixth, Crow-Armstrong decided to put his exasperation aside and end his month-long funk by any means necessary.
Down 0-2 with two outs and a man at first, Crow-Armstrong laid down a bunt and sprinted safely to first base. It was the first two-strike bunt hit in the Majors this season.
“Two strikes. Two outs. I didn't expect it,” Braves center fielder Michael Harris II said.
Added Atlanta manager Brian Snitker: “It's a gutsy play by Crow-Armstrong. An 0-2 bunt, that’s a gutsy play. And it worked.”
It also sparked a Cubs rally. Dansby Swanson followed with a two-run double, sending Crow-Armstrong from first to home in 9.62 seconds (the Cubs' fastest home-to-first time this season, surpassing his own 10.0 seconds on March 29) and cutting deeper into what was once a 6-1 hole. On a day when it seemed Crow-Armstrong's struggles were getting the best of him, it was just one of many ways he was still able to help his team complete a come-from-behind, 7-6 walk-off win in the 10th.
Though his offensive efforts may not have been as prolific as his first-half numbers, Crow-Armstrong bunting to keep the rally alive could go a long way towards putting a trying month behind him.
After slashing .308/.347/.637 during a monstrous July at the plate, the Cubs center fielder seemed to hit a wall. He posted a .446 OPS in August, with just five extra-base hits. He cracked a solo shot on Aug. 22 in Anaheim to snap a 25-game homerless skid, but he posted just one extra-base hit in the eight games that followed.
It certainly helps explain why, come Monday, Crow-Armstrong was willing to do just about anything to help his team with his bat.
“That was probably what was going through his head, too,” manager Craig Counsell said. “Just trying to find something positive that he could do.
“It’s the element of surprise right there. But Dansby follows with a big hit, we get two runs and then you’re talking about a ballgame.”
The Cubs were in the position to make it a ballgame thanks in large part to Crow-Armstrong flashing a pair of defensive highlights Chicago fans have grown all too familiar with this year.
In the first inning, with two outs and men at the corners, Crow-Armstrong appeared to misread a Harris liner. Yet he somehow still made the grab despite awkwardly falling backwards.
“His defense is just unbelievable,” Hoyer said. “As I talk about our pitching staff, a huge part of that is our defense. So he still helps us win every day.”
Crow-Amstrong's newest teammate can certainly attest to that.
Aaron Civale, making his first big league relief appearance after the Cubs claimed him off waivers from the White Sox, appeared to have given up a seventh-inning hit to Ozzie Albies. But from the mound he watched as Crow-Armstrong dashed 95 feet in 4.7 seconds to make a sliding catch to end the seventh.
“It gives every pitcher confidence to throw the ball in the zone,” Civale said of pitching with his new center fielder. "You can go up there, attack the zone knowing that, if the ball gets hit, there’s a good chance the play is going to be made.”
That Crow-Armstrong continues to routinely make these plays proves how eager he’s been to help his team maintain its solid position in the hunt for a playoff spot. This unwavering mentality remains even as his inability to shake plate troubles has caused apparent annoyance, and it’s something the Cubs feel is a testament to the in-house atmosphere they’ve created.
“What makes this clubhouse so special is we’re always cheering for each other,” said Carson Kelly, whose two-run homer tied the game in the eighth before his walk-off single in the 10th. “That’s what we do. When one guy’s struggling, we pick him up. That’s contagious, and I think that’s what makes this team so special, especially down the run.”