Cubs lineup gets a boost as key outfielder starts heating up again

This week's series against the San Francisco Giants got off to an inauspicious start as Matthew Boyd's recent struggles continued in a 5-2 loss, but it wasn't all doom and gloom for the Chicago Cubs.

Dynamic outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong continued his recent turnaround, collecting a pair of hits to pace the offense, raising his slash line since Aug. 15 to .275/.340/.425 (114 wRC+) and swiping his first base in 2 1/2 weeks. Obviously, he's at his best when he's hitting, but when he's not impacting the game on the basepaths, this offense loses an element that was critical to its early-season success.

In the first half, PCA swiped 27 bases and was caught just three times, but since the All-Star break, he's totaled just four bags and has been caught three times. Part of that boils down to his struggles just being on base (.847 first-half OPS, .681 second-half OPS), but it was nice to see him creating some chaos on the bases Tuesday night.

Pete Crow-Armstrong is the X-factor for a strong Cubs' offense

Even with his improved numbers over the last week-plus, August has been a struggle for the All-Star outfielder. He carries a .173/.225/.259 slash line in 90 plate appearances. That, paired with subpar showings from Kyle Tucker (74 wRC+ in August), Seiya Suzuki (90 wRC+) and others, has left the Cubs chasing the first-place Brewers, who extended their NL Central lead to 6 1/2 games with a walk-off win over Arizona Tuesday night.

The Cubs need more from PCA not only to lock down a playoff berth, but for the team to have any chance of making some noise in October. When Tucker and Crow-Armstrong are operating in tandem at a high level, there's just a completely different feel to the offense, and it's been some time since we've seen that regularly.

Crow-Armstrong has been a breakout superstar for the Cubs in 2025 and even his late-summer swoon hasn't changed that fact. He's on the cusp of becoming a 30/30/30 player (he needs just two more home runs) - and is a lock to win his first Gold Glove for his work in center. He's showing signs of life at the plate, and if he can slam the door on his early August slump, we could be in for a big finish from the 23-year-old.