Cubs fans can't ignore Pete Crow-Armstrong may have fixed Mariners' Cal Raleigh mystery

The Chicago Cubs and Seattle Mariners had a fascinating weekend series, wherein the latter team won two of three but still got outscored 13 to 28 thanks to a 19-2 blowout in the finale. In other words, the Cubs lost some ground in the standings and improved their run differential at the same time.

But perhaps the most discussed part of the series was Pete Crow-Armstrong's butt slap heard 'round the world. The NL MVP favorite greeted Mariners' catcher Cal Raleigh with a firm strike on the behind during the series finale, and it seems have to reignited Big Dumper's own MVP form.

Heading into the series against the Cubs, Raleigh was working with a dismal .156/.273/.296 batting line with just 13 home runs, good for a 71 wRC+. After blasting 60 homers and finishing second in AL MVP voting a year ago, the catcher was experiencing a fall-off of historic proportions.

But, in the days since PCA lent his magic via an open-handed smack, Raleigh is playing like an MVP again. He hit four long balls over just two games immediately after the series, walking in three of his other four trips to the plate. His wRC+ in that span? A cool 782.

Pete Crow-Armstrong should prove immune to Cal Raleigh's post-MVP-run slump next season

Some Cubs fans may worry that PCA transferred all of his mojo over to Raleigh after going 0-for-9 after that blowout victory, but he hit a home run on the same day as his infamous slap. He'll be fine.

Perhaps the more interesting story to follow here is that of Raleigh. He was always going to regress after his magical 2025 campaign, but he's hit a wall in a way that few others ever have. His drop-off in wRC+ (74 points) and OPS (312 points) is the largest in history, and that's after factoring in his recent homer binge.

Whatever is ailing him has simply hung on and refused to let go all year long, at least until Crow-Armstrong seemingly dislodged it. But that sort of begs the question: Is the Cubs' star due for his own big-time regression next year?

Raleigh first broke out in 2023 before emerging as a "star" in 2024, which gave way to his all-time greatness in 2025. Crow-Armstrong has followed a similar career path, with All-Star nods in two straight years and the inside track on a top-two MVP finish this year.

The good news is that Raleigh's MVP turn was really based on just one improvement, that being in the power department. He started pulling the ball in the air at an unsustainable rate in 2025, which led to him hitting such a deluge of homers. Now that he's settled back near his career norms in 2026 (and gotten a little less lucky), he's regressed hard.

Crow-Armstrong isn't dependent on any one aspect of his game in the same way. His elite defense is his otherworldly trait, but that's not something you'd expect to completely crater over the course of a year. Likewise, his blazing speed won't be going anywhere in his age-25 season in 2027, which will help him maintain huge extra-base hit totals even if he can't clear the fences 30 or more times.

And, even if PCA does come out of the gates slow next year, he won't have to wait too long to get a pat on the back from Raleigh; the Cubs and Mariners are scheduled to play each other in early May.

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