Cubs News: Pitching probables for this week, PCA's elite defense, NL ROTY thoughts

Coming off Monday's scheduled off-day, the Chicago Cubs are a season-high 21 games over .500 and riding high coming off last weekend's sweep of the Los Angeles Angels. Unfortunately, Milwaukee took care of business against Arizona, extending its lead to 5 1/2 games in the NL Central, but an easy strength of schedule leaves the door open for Craig Counsell's club down the stretch.

The Cubs will send Matthew Boyd, Colin Rea and Shota Imanaga to the hill at Oracle Park this week, with first pitch on Tuesday and Wednesday slated for 8:45 p.m. CT and Thursday's finale at 2:45 p.m. CT. Chicago then heads to Colorado for a weekend series against the Rockies to close out the August slate.

Chicago dropped two of three to San Francisco at Wrigley back in early May, but will look to ride their recent momentum to better results this time around. Monday's off-day couldn't have come at a better time. The Cubs had played 14 games in 13 days leading up to it, so it's safe to say nobody's complaining about some R&R before this West Coast swing.

Pete Crow-Armstrong seems like a lock for his first Gold Glove

Coming up through the Cubs' system after being acquired from the New York Mets at the 2021 trade deadline, Pete Crow-Armstrong was lauded for his speed and defensive abilities. Some work with new Cubs coaches Quintin Berry and Jose Javier in Arizona this spring helped him take his already impressive glove work to new heights in 2025.

“When a ball gets hit and then you kind of look to the outfielder, some outfielders are just starting to move,” Counsell told MLB.com earlier this year. “And it feels like Pete’s already ran three steps. That’s kind of the layman’s way to describe it. And that difference, that’s 10 feet or that’s 15 feet.”

PCA leads all MLB center fielders in Defensive Runs Saved (20) and has nearly doubled up the National League runner-up at the position, St. Louis outfielder Victor Scott II. Paired with a solidly above-average bat (120 wRC+), the All-Star center fielder is on pace for the best season by a Cubs position player (in terms of bWAR) since Kris Bryant's MVP campaign in 2016 - and a strong finish to the year could leave KB in Crow-Armstrong's rearview mirror, at that.

Cubs may not want Cade Horton to win Rookie of the Year

Cade Horton has rocketed up betting boards of late, turning in a stretch of dominance not seen in Wrigleyville since Jake Arrieta's Cy Young campaign 10 years ago. That's led to him becoming a favorite in NL Rookie of the Year odds, which probably isn't something the Cubs' front office is in love with.

If Horton finishes first or second in Rookie of the Year voting, he'll gain a full year of service time, which could spur some urgency in potential extension talks between Chicago and the young right-hander. A lot can happen in the final five weeks, but if he keeps this up, it could have a domino effect, especially if he comes away with hardware at season's end.