NEWSLETTER
I’ll get back into the Chicago Cubs’ loss to the Colorado Rockies soon enough. It was bad. I want to avoid it for a few more minutes.
So I’m going to start off my day – after enjoying the Tennessee Smokies’ walk-off winner – by re-enjoying Pete Crow-Armstrong’s two sensational catches last night in his starting debut.
Crow-Armstrong making his first incredible catch last night would’ve been enough to get special mention, given his standing as an elite defensive prospect, and recipient of the very rare 80 grade in center field. You expect him to make these kinds of plays, even as you marvel that he actually got it done:
That second catch, though. I was caught up in the moment – and the game – so I couldn’t linger on just how absurd it was. But now, the morning after, I’m still just dumbfounded that PCA caught that ball. I still love how Pat Hughes was – understandably! – super low-key on the call of the second catch, because he rightly assumed off the bat that the ball was headed to the wall. His call was that of someone who ACTUALLY couldn’t believe what had just happened (sound on):
That was beautiful. The catch and the call.
When you get multiple cap tips from your pitchers in a game, you did good. And when it’s your FIRST start? I mean, it’s like a prospect known for his power coming up and hitting two 450-foot homers in his first start. Obviously you know it can happen, but the odds are still against it.
All we can do now is enjoy the show in the years to come, and hope that future PCA catches contribute to Cubs wins, rather than being the high point of an otherwise disappointing loss.
It sounds like that’s kind of how Crow-Armstrong, himself, sees these moments.
“I’m having a hard time getting past the loss,” PCA told Cubs.com after the game. “I’ll make those plays every chance I get, but I also want to produce every chance I get.” He’ll keep making the catches, but he also wants to win.
