Cubs fans love Pete Crow-Armstrong’s NSFW unfiltered playoff take

It hasn't even been a week since spring training games began, yet the Chicago Cubs are feeling hungry and confident. For the first time since the 2016 team and the era that followed, the expectations are set back to where they should be for a big-market club. Even owner Tom Ricketts has been clear about what the goal is after a 92-win season that ended in divisional round disappointment — win another World Series.

Perhaps nobody is more fired up than star center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong. It only took two full years for PCA to cement himself as the face of a rising Cubs team, thanks to a scorching hot 131 wRC+ first half in 2025 that had him in MVP conversations, a 30-30 season, and a flair in both his personality and style of play that made him must-see TV. He's worn his Chicago pride on his sleeve since then, showing up at Bulls and Blackhawks games and hanging out with Bears quarterback Caleb Williams. There's little he's enjoyed as much, however, as playing in the postseason.

PCA emphasized that point in a larger profile with Chicago Magazine that delves into everything that makes the young star tick. At the end of a series of quote-worthy exchanges about his dismal second-half performance, his impact with young fans, and, yes, even the possibility of an extension, he reflected on what it meant to be part of the first playoff-bound Cubs team in a full season since 2018. Game 4 against the Brewers, in particular, stood out to him as he saw a city hanging on every moment and feeling reinvigorated after the club battled back down two games to none. In his eyes, there's no reason an organization shouldn't always strive for that feeling and, most importantly, titles.

“I saw what bringing playoff baseball back to the city meant,” he said during the interview. "That’s an easy, immovable goal. The f*** are you playing for if you’re not trying to play in the playoffs and win the World Series? There’s more to life than baseball, but maybe not for me right now. This s*** is my life.”

Before PCA arrived in the majors, the Cubs didn't come off as the kind of group that put much weight on constant World Series contention. The 2021 sell-off began a rebuild that took a short while to bear fruit, including the fateful trade that sent their previous fiery fan-favorite, Javier Baez, to the Mets for Crow-Armstrong.

Rather than push to get the team back into contention sooner, Jed Hoyer and company spent years staying away from bigger free agents and spoke more of waiting for the next great Cubs team and beating expectations than making a true, on-paper playoff contender. There have been real questions about the level of commitment to winning from this ownership and front office tandem.

That era appears over, now. Although Kyle Tucker walked in the offseason to join the juggernaut Los Angeles Dodgers, the Cubs finally had an offseason worthy of their station. Edward Cabrera, Phil Maton, and especially Alex Bregman, with his $175 million deal, represented bigger expenditures than they've typically gone for over the past several years. Projections now widely peg them as the likely winner of the National League Central for the first time since 2020. Fans and players are refreshed, and the message is clear — it's time to win.

Cubs will need PCA to be a superstar to be a true World Series favorite

PCA may be as vital as anyone to that mission. He'll always be valuable because of his Gold Glove defense in center, but despite his success last year, all he's been focused on is eliminating the primary weakness he had at the plate — a lack of on-base percentage. Bregman's presence as a clubhouse leader may be just the thing to help him make strides on both the physical and mental side of the game, too. There's simply no player on the roster with as high a ceiling, meaning the Cubs' success will be heavily defined by whether he's the superstar seen in the first half or not.

One thing is certain: PCA is the kind of baseball lifer who won't be satisfied until he reaches his peak performance. Hopefully, that comes with a trophy, too.