\u201cWe\u2019re always looking forward to playing more baseball at Wrigley,\u201d Crow-Armstrong said. \u201cThat\u2019s why you got to win three.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1759888924_692_AP25276008570970-scaled.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\n When the Cubs beat the Padres in the best-of-three Wild Card Series, Crow-Armstrong made it a point to acknowledge the Wrigley Field fans. (AP \/ Erin Hooley)<\/p>\n
The Brewers only need to win one to advance to the NL Championship Series, which would be another achievement to go along with their fourth division title in the last five years. Even in a muddled playoff field, the Cubs do not look like a serious World Series contender. And at 23 years old, Crow-Armstrong still isn\u2019t a finished product.<\/p>\n
The education of Crow-Armstrong has involved an ongoing, season-long conversation with Justin Turner, the 40-year-old bench player who has competed in 87 career postseason games, earning a World Series ring and a Roberto Clemente Award with the Los Angeles Dodgers. While Cubs manager Craig Counsell raves about Turner\u2019s influence on the entire clubhouse, it is Crow-Armstrong who frequently mentions \u201cJT\u201d when answering questions at his locker.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you\u2019re a five-tool player, it\u2019s not just about hitting,\u201d Turner said. \u201cIt\u2019s not just about hitting big home runs. He does it on the bases. He does it in the outfield. It\u2019s just constantly reminding him that you don\u2019t have to go 10-for-10 with 10 homers to help us win ballgames.\u201d<\/p>\n
Crow-Armstrong, who grew up in Southern California watching Turner play at Dodger Stadium, met him last November, long before the Cubs presented themselves as a serious option to the free agent. Turner had invited Crow-Armstrong to play in a golf outing for his charitable foundation.<\/p>\n
Two players from different generations made an easy connection that would deepen once the Cubs missed on Alex Bregman in spring training and pivoted toward Turner, who has a reputation for being a sort of hitting guru.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s one of those guys that has so many thoughts and questions and feels that he\u2019s going through at the plate,\u201d Turner said. \u201cBetween me and coach (John) Mallee, we just try to be the best sounding board for him and make sure he keeps moving in the right direction.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s so much talent, and so much ability there, that as long as he\u2019s in a good place, he\u2019s going to impact the game for us, one way or another.\u201d<\/p>\n
As the Cubs try to keep a narrow focus on just winning one game, they have to think that Crow-Armstrong, at any given moment, could suddenly become the best player on the field.<\/p>\n
In Counsell\u2019s pragmatic mind, making a great defensive play can be just as good as hitting a home run. Depending on the game situation and conditions at Wrigley Field, the Cubs may also need Crow-Armstrong\u2019s speed.<\/p>\n
\ufeff<\/p>\n
The Cubs went through Tuesday\u2019s workout at Wrigley Field focusing on the next game, not next year. But Counsell readily acknowledged the long-term benefits to Crow-Armstrong in facing this level of competition and performing on a bigger stage.<\/p>\n
Ten years ago, the Cubs assembled a young group of players who made a surprisingly deep postseason run. That nucleus returned the next year, better prepared for the blinding spotlight at the 2016 World Series.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe all consider Pete a pretty emotional player,\u201d Counsell said. \u201cOctober ramps that up even more. Those are great lessons for a player to learn \u2014 what it does to you. You learn about how it helps you. And I think Pete\u2019s still learning how emotion really helps him. And: \u2018How does it hurt me sometimes?\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cMoments where it heightens are an even better teacher. Everybody goes through that, too. Pete\u2019s not unique to that. They\u2019re great learning experiences.\u201d<\/p>\n
Crow-Armstrong certainly isn\u2019t the only Chicago hitter struggling to find his rhythm and timing against Milwaukee\u2019s hard-throwing pitchers and strong game-planning system.<\/p>\n
After fading in the second half, Kyle Tucker hasn\u2019t had an extra-base hit during this postseason. Ian Happ, through 19 postseason at-bats, has nine strikeouts and zero walks. Matt Shaw is carrying a .000 batting average through the playoffs. Crow-Armstrong is 4-for-18 with 10 strikeouts and zero walks, and three of those hits came last week against the San Diego Padres during the clinching game of their Wild Card Series.<\/p>\n
Like the rest of his teammates, all he can do is focus on the next pitch.<\/p>\n
\u201cHitting 100 (mph velocity) is always going to be hard,\u201d Crow-Armstrong said. \u201cPutting up runs in big-league games is hard. This sport that we play is hard. That\u2019s not a surprise that they\u2019re going out there throwing their best arms. All of those guys seem to be locked in.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just our job to execute. I know I haven\u2019t done that. It\u2019s a pretty simple idea here: We got to put more balls in play, and we\u2019ll probably score more runs.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CHICAGO \u2014 The closing sequence of Monday night\u2019s TBS broadcast showed Pete Crow-Armstrong slamming his bat against a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":207953,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[479,363,99],"class_list":["post-207952","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-chicago-cubs","tag-mlb","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207952","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=207952"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207952\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/207953"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=207952"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=207952"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=207952"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}