CLEVELAND — Early data is often noisy. Looking at a player’s stat line a week into the season, good or bad, isn’t going to tell you much about what’s to come.

But with the proliferation of information that’s been provided to the public, there is so much more to sift through. One data point that can stabilize quickly is bat speed. As pointed out by Eno Sarris, Pete Crow-Armstrong has seen a big jump early this season.

At 73.8 mph, Crow-Armstrong’s bat speed is up a full tick above last season’s average. Is this intentional? Is Crow-Armstrong even aware of this?

“No,” he said recently before a loss to the Cleveland Guardians.

In fact, Crow-Armstrong thinks it’s a result of him feeling off with his mechanics.

“I’ve just been fighting certain things movement-wise,” Crow-Armstrong said. “Ultimately, it’s probably a result of me being late and then I gotta catch up. Naturally, I think that happens a lot.”

It’s early and hardly a reason to panic. Crow-Armstrong got off to a slow start last season, posting a 50 wRC+ over his first 17 games. He then went on a hot streak that had him in MVP conversations by the trade deadline.

“I’m late and I’m trying to create space, then the move’s not right,” Crow-Armstrong said. “That’s why I’m hitting a bunch of grounders. I’m not swinging harder. It’s not a conscious thing. It’s probably a product of something that’s not working.”

Pete Crow-Armstrong of the Chicago Cubs looks on from the dugout during the eighth inning of a game against the Los Angeles Angels. (Jayden Mack / Getty Images)

So to Crow-Armstrong, intentional or not, this jump in bat speed isn’t even a good thing.

“I think it’s bad habits leading to that,” Crow-Armstrong said. “If I’m late on heaters, then I’m going to be swinging harder because I feel like I gotta catch up. If I was just on time and taking my normal swing, I’d probably not be swinging as hard.”

Hitting coach Dustin Kelly says he monitors these things and has noticed that Crow-Armstrong’s bat speed is up as well. Kelly believes that it has to do with Crow-Armstrong being fresh and aggressive early in the year. But like Crow-Armstrong, he doesn’t think it will lead to better outcomes.

“We saw this last year, too,” Kelly said. “At the very beginning of the year, his bat speeds were through the roof. And then they tapered down. Actually, in his best stretch, they were a little bit lower than they were at the start.”

Currently, Crow-Armstrong has been putting the ball on the ground much more than he’d like. At 43.8 percent, his groundball rate is a dozen points higher than last season. He’s stolen a few hits still, with two bunts singles and a few grounders finding holes. His lone extra-base hit was a misplayed pop-up that he turned into a double. In fact, he’s yet to hit a ball categorized as a line drive.

“It happens a lot,” Crow-Armstrong said. “Early in the WBC that’s kind of what was going on. That’s just a product of timing. When you’re on time, you don’t feel like you have to add more to your move.”

Right now, Crow-Armstrong said he’s spending a lot of time breaking down his at-bats to see what’s wrong. What’s he seeing?

“I’m hanging back,” Crow-Armstrong said. “I’m not trusting that move forward and trusting that I know how to hold it and I’m very capable of hitting the ball out front without trying to beat the ball. It’s just about trusting your move. I’m just not quite there.”

When Crow-Armstrong is at his best, he’s hitting the ball in the air to the pull side. Last season, he was fifth in baseball with a 52.9 percent pull rate behind stars like Kyle Schwarber, Cal Raleigh and José Ramírez.

“I think when I am pulling the baseball in the air, I’m usually producing and pretty dialed,” Crow-Armstrong said. “That’s just being on time. Not being afraid to be early or late, just being ready for a fastball and hitting whatever else I see off that.”

This, of course, is nothing to be worried about. A week of baseball doesn’t tell the story of a season. So much so that the whole conversation with Crow-Armstrong started with thinking that something positive was going on.

But Crow-Armstrong had clearly been thinking about what was wrong with his offense, looking for a fix. He’d studied his swing and identified the issues. Yes, there are some mechanical issues he’ll correct. But largely, it’s in his head.

“It’s always mental, man,” Crow-Armstrong said. “Everything turns physical from what’s going on up here.”