5 no-brainer stats that make Pete Crow-Armstrong's National League MVP case unstoppable

No matter what happens in the playoffs, Pete Crow-Armstrong is giving Chicago Cubs fans a season that will go down as one of the best in team history. Crow-Armstrong's odds of winning the National League MVP skyrocketed past Shohei Ohtani. The coveted award is Crow-Armstrong's to lose at this point, and these insane statistics prove Crow-Armstrong has this race in the bag barring an injury.

9.4 fWAR

Crow-Armstrong's Fangraphs Wins Above Replacement (fWAR) now sits at 9.4 on the season. Even with three weeks left in the regular season, it's hard to imagine someone passing Crow-Armstrong in fWAR. The next closest position player is Bobby Witt Jr. with 6.3 fWAR.

Since 2000, Crow-Armstrong is just the fourth player to have 9.0 fWAR or more entering the final month of the season. He joins Witt Jr. and former MVP's Aaron Judge, Alex Rodriguez and Barry Bonds, who accomplished the feat three different times.

If his hot streak at the plate continues, Crow-Armstrong could crack the Cubs' single-season fWAR mark. According to MLB.com, Rogers Hornsby holds that record with 11.0 fWAR in 1929.

.957 OPS against lefties

One of the most remarkable steps forward in Crow-Armstrong's approach at the plate is how he has performed against left-handed pitching. Not only has he greatly improved against southpaws, Crow-Armstrong is feasting in these matchups.

Entering the weekend, the Cubs' All-Star leads all left-handed hitters in MLB with a .957 OPS and 166 wRC+ against left-handed pitching. These are massive jumps from his 2025 marks, where he had a .594 OPS and 59 wRC+.

Historic home runs

Crow-Armstrong posted his first career three-homer game on Aug. 29 against the Reds, marking the 12th game of his career in which he hit multiple dingers. The power surge propelled the Cubs to a 17-5 win and put Crow-Armstrong in a rare category.

Joining Mookie Betts (2018), Crow-Armstrong became the second player ever to hit a lead-off homer, a walk-off homer, three home runs in a single game and hit for the cycle in a season.

Crow-Armstrong also hit a walk-off and lead-off homer in the same game this year. Against the White Sox on Aug. 17, he became the first player since 1957 to hit home runs on the first and last pitch his team saw in the same game.

Seven percent walk rate increase

If you're a psycho like me and watch almost every single Cubs game, you'll remember Crow-Armstrong's frustrating tendency to chase too many pitches. It was to the point where it looked like Crow-Armstrong was going to be another Javier Baez, destined to get fooled at the plate on a regular basis.

But Crow-Armstrong's metrics in 2026 tell a different story. The center fielder has completely overhauled his plate discipline this year, making him much more than just a home run threat.

According to MLB Network, Crow-Armstrong's walk rate increase is the largest increase by any player in MLB. And this ability to take walks is helping fuel his MVP campaign. Hitting home runs is obviously fantastic, but doing that while also getting on base at an above-average pace is so valuable for a guy with Crow-Armstrong's speed. His base-running Run Value is in the 98th percentile this year, not only because of his ability to steal bases (32 this year), but also because he can regularly take an extra 90 feet on routine plays and give the Cubs a better chance to score runs.

24 Outs Above Average

Crow-Armstrong also made history on defense earlier this year, becoming the all-time leader in five-star catches (flyballs that have between a 0-25% chance of being caught). Eight of his 34 five-star plays have come in 2026, contributing to his 24 outs above average so far this year. Crow-Armstrong is the first player to have back-to-back seasons with at least 20 outs above average, adding to the case that he is becoming one of the best defensive players the game has ever seen.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow