NEWSLETTER
With Cody Bellinger headed to the Injured List with a rib fracture, the Cubs are in need of another outfielder: center field prospect Pete Crow-Armstrong is coming back up to the big leagues for the second time.
Crow-Armstrong, 22, has been mired in a terrible slump at Triple-A Iowa this season (.203/.241/.392/54 wRC+) as he works on a refined swing. He also briefly dealt with an arm issue that may or may not have been serious enough to further ding those numbers.
That is all to say, while the future is still the future for PCA, the present is not a matter of him banging down the door and forcing a promotion. The Cubs needed an outfielder who was already on the 40-man roster to come up, and PCA can be a valuable player off the bench, while hopefully also getting more developmental experience.
I would tentatively expect Mike Tauchman to pick up a lot of the starts in center field now, with Alexander Canario picking up starts in right field in place of the also injured Seiya Suzuki. Pete Crow-Armstrong will likely work into certain match-ups, and also serve as a late-game defensive sub and/or pinch-runner.
Depending on the length of Bellinger’s absence, there may be an opportunity for PCA to carve out more starting opportunities, but as Counsell indicated, that isn’t necessarily the focus of this promotion. (That’s me emphasizing that no one should be attaching expectations to this moment. Let PCA contribute how he best can, and if he breaks into a starting role, then that’s great.)
The Cubs’ depth is being tested in the extreme, and you hope the young players are able to respond in whatever roles they’re given.
