Pete Crow-Armstrong is so hot right now, he pulled the cycle off backwards.
The Cubs’ star center fielder hit for the cycle Monday night, quirkily doing it in reverse order by going homer, triple, double, single in four at-bats, the 13th time in club history a batter accomplished the noted baseball feat.
Of course, it hasn’t been long since a Cubs hitter did this, with catcher Carson Kelly hitting for the cycle just last season.
But Crow-Armstrong’s night for the record books is a new signature moment during a scalding-hot stretch. Since May 30 – when he quieted heckling Cardinals fans with a 444-foot homer into their section of shirtless fans – he’s batting a ridiculous .453 with seven homers and 14 extra-base hits.
Monday’s big performance started with a bang, as he smacked his second leadoff home run in the last three games. He continued with a third-inning triple off the ivy, a fifth-inning double into the right-field corner and a cycle-completing single in the seventh inning.
The last few weeks have been dotted with memorable Crow-Armstrong moments. In addition to that big homer in St. Louis, he homered and delivered a walk-off hit in a win over the A’s and homered twice – including a game-tying shot in the ninth inning – in a win over the Giants on the ensuing home stand.
And now this.
Sprinkle in his typical defensive brilliance and a consistent bat that recently made him NL Player of the Week, and Crow-Armstrong has looked like the All-Star player he was a season ago.
That’s something to build around for the Cubs, not only in the long term – he’s looked rather deserving of that big contract extension of late – but in the immediate as this team looks to escape the shadow of an 8-22 stretch that dropped them from atop the NL Central to .500.
Crow-Armstrong has been at or near the top of the lineup for weeks now, the perfect place to help ignite the offense and pull off a summertime turnaround.