Cubs hitting coach reveals turning point that sent Pete Crow-Armstrong into MVP conversation

Pete Crow-Armstrong is putting the finishing touches on a year to remember for the Chicago Cubs. On Wednesday, he added yet another standout performance with two home runs and a triple, raising his OPS by 18 points to .956 heading into this weekend's series in Cincinnati. That's an impressive feat considering how deep into the season we are, but it was more than that. His pair of long balls rocketed PCA past Billy Williams for the most single-season homers by a left-handed hitter in team history and tied him with Ernie Banks for most jacks by a Cub in a season before turning 25 at 44.

Forget the first half of 2025. The 24-year-old center fielder headed into the matchup against the Reds with a 282/.375/.581 slash line and 159 wRC+ and is playing beyond any fan's wildest imagination, posting numbers that rival or surpass anything accomplished in a franchise that just turned 150 this year. A big part of the conversation about PCA's turnaround has been his radical 6.9 percent increase in walk rate and drop in chase rate, forcing more pitchers to face him in the zone. Such an evolution requires more tweaks, though.

With Crow-Armstrong just three stolen bases away from a 40-40 season, The Athletic's Patrick Mooney spoke to Cubs hitting coach Dustin Kelly, who provided some insight into the changes he's made at the plate that have elevated him to clear MVP frontrunner status. Kelly has had a front-row seat to the superstar's development ever since he was acquired in a trade for Javier Baez and Trevor Williams at the deadline in 2021, while Kelly was the minor-league hitting coordinator. The biggest thing he noticed this year was an improvement in his ability to be selectively aggressive.

It's not just about chasing. PCA isn't swinging nearly as much, period, dropping from 60.1percent of the time last year to just 49.9 percent. When he has swung the bat since breaking out of his early slump around mid-May, Kelly says, "he’s getting his 'A' swing off a ton." He's been able to control the strike zone not just through practicing patience and identifying his pitches, but because he leverages his elite 75 mph swing speed to cover nearly the entire zone and get off his hardest and fastest swings in so many locations.

Well over a third of PCA's home runs have come off pitches in the bottom third of the strike zone or below, but he's also not getting beaten by those hard-to-reach fastballs at the very top either. "It’s not that there’s a ton of damage," Kelly added about the challenges of hitting the high heat. "But it’s not an out, and it’s not a swing-and-miss. It’s a foul ball. He’s managing the top part of that zone." As the cherry on top, he's among the very best hitters at punishing middle-middle mistakes, with 10 long balls and 19 extra-base hits in that zone alone.

Cubs' Pete Crow-Armstrong has become a nightmare for pitchers

In short, Crow-Armstrong is more often fighting off or laying off traditional pitchers' pitches and forcing opponents to make mistakes in spots where he feasts. He can also get his "A" swings off in spots many hitters struggle to and force mistakes. A great example is his home run against the Brewers' young righty Logan Henderson, where he sent his nasty changeup over 400 feet to center field despite it only being 1.2 feet off the ground. Kelly also pointed out that pitchers are hesitant to attack him inside, leaving very little room to reliably beat him with anything less than perfection.

PCA's been a superstar talent since he was part of USA Baseball’s 12U national team. He's just kept finding ways to prove everyone, including Kelly, wrong and show that he deserves to be one of the faces of baseball. The Cubs are lucky to have him locked up for the next six years, and fans should savor what has been a truly one-of-a-kind season in franchise history, made possible by an evolution that only comes around once in a blue moon.

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