SAN DIEGO \u2014 One of Pete Crow-Armstrong\u2019s batting gloves wound up near a trash can in Petco Park\u2019s visiting dugout. The Chicago Cubs\u2019 young star might have given the other one to a fan. Batting practice before Tuesday\u2019s game had gone so poorly that he entered the tunnel that leads toward the visitors\u2019 clubhouse and screamed.<\/p>\n
As part of his routine, Crow-Armstrong usually takes early batting practice, preferring the quiet of an empty stadium several hours before first pitch. This time, he believed he needed the extra session and wanted to feel the movements of his left-handed swing.<\/p>\n
Juan Cabreja, Chicago\u2019s assistant hitting coach, kept grooving pitches down the middle, Crow-Armstrong said, \u201cand I\u2019m hitting the top of the cage.\u201d As he walked off the field, the frustrations boiled over.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe BP was s\u2014,\u201d Crow-Armstrong said, but it also served a purpose. \u201cIt\u2019s nice that I got my emotions out in that way before the game and could kind of bring the focus back to what really matters.\u201d<\/p>\n
By the time a sellout crowd of 40,106 showed up, Crow-Armstrong was ready to compete.<\/p>\n
He launched a three-run homer over the center-field wall in the seventh inning of Tuesday\u2019s 8-3 victory over the San Diego Padres<\/a>, perhaps a sign that he may finally be heating up.<\/p>\n In Wednesday afternoon\u2019s 5-4 win, Crow-Armstrong lifted a two-run homer into the right-field seats and drove in another run with a groundball on a contact play against tough lefty Adrian Morejon.<\/p>\n The Cubs have been waiting for that kind of spark \u2014 while still marveling at his Gold Glove defense in center field \u2014 because they have seen Crow-Armstrong perform at an MVP level. Maybe this is a turning point, the same way it was during last season\u2019s April West Coast trip that created the momentum that carried him to the All-Star Game.<\/p>\n After producing one home run in his first 29 games this season, Crow-Armstrong hit two in less than 24 hours. That power surge, combined with Jameson Taillon\u2019s quality start and Ben Brown\u2019s eighth-inning escape from a no-outs, bases-loaded jam he inherited, helped complete a 3-3 trip through Dodger Stadium and San Diego.<\/p>\n Crow-Armstrong thinks that facing a parade of left-handed pitchers has sharpened his approach. He appreciated a pep talk from second baseman Nico Hoerner and the support shown by manager Craig Counsell\u2019s coaching staff. His .669 OPS is underwhelming but trending in the right direction. This is a streaky player who will keep trying to figure it out.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s just being able to trust that the at-bats end up paying off somehow,\u201d Crow-Armstrong said. \u201cThere\u2019s never a time you want to be like, \u2018All right, I\u2019m starting to get hot.\u2019 It\u2019s continuing to have good conversations. It\u2019s continuing to know what I want to do before I get in the box, so then it just becomes about being an athlete. It\u2019s continuing to understand how people are going to try and get me to swing at s\u2014.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2022 Cubs closer Daniel Palenica has progressed to the point where the club is considering activating him Friday for the start of a three-game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Wrigley Field. That timeline would be a rare piece of good news amid all the injuries that have hit Chicago\u2019s pitching staff.<\/p>\n Initially diagnosed with a strained oblique, Palenica underwent an MRI that subsequently identified a lat injury. That location on his non-throwing side allowed him to be on a program that may bypass a minor-league rehab assignment. Although he hasn\u2019t pitched in a game since April 12, he could be throwing 100 mph fastballs in the ninth inning very soon.<\/p>\n \u2022 All along, Justin Steele wanted to be ready for the biggest games of the season. Decisions would be made with October in mind as he recovered from last year\u2019s season-ending elbow surgery. That possibility \u2014 starting a postseason game at Wrigley Field \u2014 remains in play.<\/p>\n Still, there\u2019s no escaping the disappointment after Tuesday\u2019s visit with Dr. Keith Meister in Texas. A flexor strain in Steele\u2019s left elbow pushed his projected return from late May\/early June to sometime after the All-Star break, barring another setback.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s hard to put into words the emotions and mental state that something like this can leave you in,\u201d Steele wrote on his X account<\/a>. \u201c\u2026 I just know I have given 100 (percent) and have done everything that\u2019s been asked of me.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2022 Given his ironman reputation, it set off alarm bells when Gold Glove shortstop Dansby Swanson was pulled from Tuesday\u2019s game in the second inning. It only got more confusing with the announcement that he exited with a \u201cleft glute cramp.\u201d<\/p>\n The Cubs held Swanson out of Wednesday\u2019s lineup as a precaution.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t even know how to really explain it,\u201d Swanson said. \u201cI almost felt like I got charley horsed. I think I charley horsed myself on a bad slide. It just hadn\u2019t let up from that feeling for a couple minutes, so let\u2019s not do anything stupid. Because even if it is just a charley horse, you don\u2019t want to do anything to make it actually be something. My pride didn\u2019t want to, but my brain won the battle this time.\u201d<\/p>\n