MLB jersey sales show Pete Crow-Armstrong has reach far beyond Cubs fans

Sitting in the stands at Wrigley Field Thursday afternoon to bear witness to Pete Crow-Armstrong joining baseball's 40/40 club is something I'll never forget. The sun shining, history being made - and the Chicago Cubs punching their playoff ticket didn't hurt matters.

Looking at the crowd, hundreds of #4 jerseys spotted the stands with 'CROW-ARMSTRONG' across the back as the Wrigley faithful cheered on the man who will be the first Cub to win MVP honors since Kris Bryant a decade ago. He's beloved on the North Side and, if you believe the 2026 MLB jersey sales numbers, that love stretches far beyond the Windy City.

Only two players' jerseys sold at a higher clip than PCA's - Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani and the face of the New York Yankees, Aaron Judge. According to MLB, Ohtani is the first player since the league started tracking jersey sales in 2010 to rank first for four consecutive seasons.

At one point, Ohtani and PCA were locked in a battle for National League MVP - but injuries to Ohtani and just a superhuman second half from Crow-Armstrong have settled that debate and it's now clear the Cubs' outfielder will bring home the hardware at season's end.

An injury-marred 2026 season didn't dampen enthusiasm for the Yankees' captain. Despite playing in just 66 games, Judge ranked second on this list. His track record of elite performance and the fact he plays in New York no doubt buoyed his standing with baseball fans.

Pete Crow-Armstrong gives Cubs their first true superstar in years

Pre-Crow-Armstrong, you have to turn the clock back the better part of a decade to see Cubs dotting this list. That was back in the days of Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant and Javier Baez. Winning a World Series and erasing a 108-year championship drought doesn't hurt matters there. Meanwhile PCA has taken a different path as he climbs up the jersey sales rankings: largely serving as a one-man wrecking crew, dragging the Cubs into the postseason.

Pitching injuries and inconsistency defined this team, but Crow-Armstrong's history-making performance has allowed the national fanbase to look at things through rose-colored glasses. Winning does seem to matter, though. The top nine players on the list play for postseason-bound teams.

Crow-Armstrong ranked 16th on the 2025 MLB jersey rankings - marking the first time since 2021 a Cubs player cracked the top-25. The new face of the franchise is here to stay, so don't be surprised if he takes a run at the top spot in 2027.

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