Pete Crow-Armstrong has rapidly developed into a superstar for Chicago. Jeff Curry / Imagn Images
CHICAGO — “I’m absolutely burnt out from talking to you guys,” Pete Crow-Armstrong told the reporters huddled around his Wrigley Field locker when the Chicago Cubs returned from the All-Star break. “I’m not going to lie.”
For the most part, Crow-Armstrong speaks with a lot of self-awareness and just enough filter. The young center fielder understood the face-of-the-franchise responsibilities when he agreed to a six-year, $115 million contract extension before Opening Day in March. He also mentioned Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani by name, acknowledging his media demands don’t quite rise to their levels.
That passing reference is a reminder that the Cubs could have the best player on the field — on both sides of the ball — for every postseason game they enter this fall. It’s not hyperbole when FanGraphs (6.3) and Baseball Reference (6) both rank Crow-Armstrong as the current major-league leader in wins above replacement.
Judge’s fractured rib is a crucial variable for the New York Yankees’ World Series odds. If Ohtani’s left knee heals in time to allow him to return as a starting pitcher, then the Los Angeles Dodgers will clearly have the best all-around baseball talent on the planet, if not in the sport’s history. Major League Baseball’s postseason format is also widely seen as a crapshoot.
