Cubs need both bats and arms to contend

Cubs need – Pete Crow-Armstrong’s surge has injected life into the Cubs’ offense, but manager Craig Counsell says the team can’t rely on just one phase. With the Cubs still chasing the division-leading Brewers—and pitching struggles stretching across May—they’ll need ever

Pete Crow-Armstrong didn’t pitch, but Monday night he changed the tone anyway.

The Cubs’ center fielder woke up as baseball’s leader in bWAR (4.0) and ranked third in fWAR (3.5). a snapshot of the all-around excellence that’s been piling up on the field. He’s been scorching at the plate in the last couple weeks. and the moment started early: after three at-bats Monday night. he hit a second leadoff home run in three days to begin his first at-bat.

Since May 30—the night he silenced Cardinals fans with a 444-foot homer into their section of shirtless hecklers—Crow-Armstrong is hitting .444 with seven long balls and 14 extra-base hits. And the bat isn’t the only thing making plays feel routine. His center-field defense has been so dazzling, so often, that even the diving, highlight-reel catches are becoming commonplace.

Nico Hoerner, the Cubs’ second baseman, put it plainly after Saturday’s day-to-day work.

“He’s been great defensively since he showed up in the big leagues. but his consistency has been on another level this year. ” Hoerner told the Sun-Times on Saturday. “It’s a great thing when you can have a player who’s already great at something still find ways to improve. He’s been a huge asset for us.”.

But the Cubs know this truth as well as anyone: no one player, not even one as complete as Crow-Armstrong, can drag a roster back by himself. Even if his bat ignites the top of the lineup, it still wouldn’t be enough to reverse what came before.

They dropped from first in the NL Central into .500 after an ugly 8-22 stretch. Crow-Armstrong admitted last week he won’t be able to do it alone.

Manager Craig Counsell said the challenge is broader than a single hot streak, and he laid out the requirement like a checklist.

“How we win games, night to night, is something that the whole roster carries,” Counsell said before Monday’s game. “During those [two 10-game winning] streaks [earlier in the season. I said. ] multiple times. ‘The number of guys on the roster contributing is what’s causing this.’ And that’s what you need to do.”.

Then came the line that fits the Cubs’ moment best—because it’s a warning about their limits.

“It’s not going to be one or the other. One or the other won’t be good enough.”

For a brief stretch, the Cubs did look like the version of themselves they want to return to. They have the best defense in baseball. and they left recent road swings out West looking sharper—stringing three wins together for the first time since completing their second 10-game win streak of the season.

In those three consecutive victories, the offense produced more like the Cubs of the earlier year. Even though the team still came into Monday last in baseball with a .349 slugging percentage since May 9. they managed a .543 slugging percentage during the three-game run. There were three-homer games on either side of Michael Busch’s splash hit into McCovey Cove.

But Counsell didn’t let the glow of that success last too long in his comments.

“A couple guys had some games they needed to have,” he said. “But that doesn’t guarantee us anything for today, and that doesn’t guarantee that some of these guys that have been swinging it well keep swinging it well.”

That’s the rub for a club trying to catch the division-leading Brewers. The Cubs’ next push depends on whether this kind of production becomes routine again—not just a three-day sample.

They’ll need it, because pitching has carried some of the strain. Entering Monday, Cubs hurlers posted a 4.81 ERA since May 9—the sixth highest in baseball during that stretch. And they’ve allowed home runs at a rate the Cubs can’t afford for long: they lead the sport in home runs allowed. with 104 served up coming into Monday.

Ben Brown has been great, and Javier Assad hadn’t allowed a run since coming back from the minors. There were other bright spots on the most recent trip, too. But the Cubs aren’t in the business of collecting positives in isolation.

Third baseman Alex Bregman summed up the need for more than one good weekend. Before leaving San Francisco on Sunday, he said the team needs consistency across everything.

“We’ve just got to click and play good baseball and do it consistently,” Bregman said. “All phases of the game were better in the last three days. Hopefully, we’ll continue to build off that.”

That’s where Crow-Armstrong’s surge becomes both a boost and a test. The bat is real, and the defense is already rare at its best. Now the Cubs have to prove they can make it last—and. more importantly. prove they can get the pitching to match the level of their fielding and their lineup. One or the other won’t be enough as the calendar moves toward the end-of-month matchup with the Brewers.

Cubs Pete Crow-Armstrong Craig Counsell NL Central Brewers bWAR fWAR Michael Busch Ben Brown Javier Assad home runs allowed baseball