BALTIMORE — Pete Crow-Armstrong had a June for the ages.
His next trick? Well, it’s not slowing down.
The Cubs’ center fielder is off to the races in July, starting the month 6-for-12 in four games coming into Tuesday.
After batting .381 last month, he’s off to a .500 beginning to this month.
Yeah, yeah, small sample size. But still. The guy’s on fire.
“Obviously,” team president Jed Hoyer said toward the end of June, “he’s not going to play like this the whole season.”
Are we sure about that?
Crow-Armstrong’s teammates are still marveling, awestruck by the transformation the 24-year-old has made. He reached base at a .287 clip and walked just 29 times in 157 games last season. He carried a .383 on-base percentage into Tuesday and walked 41 times in his first 90 games this year.
“The most impressive thing is the plate discipline and the walks,” outfielder Ian Happ said Tuesday. “For him to get to this point this quickly and really, in a matter of a week or two, kind of change the way that he approaches at-bats and the patience, the ability to lay off some really tough pitches … that’s been the most impressive thing to watch is just the consistency of the quality of at-bats.
“There’s always been thump there. There’s always been unbelievable tools and the speed and the defense. What he did last year was so special. But … to watch the way that he’s walking, it makes him so lethal because he’s such a good base runner.”
And there’s a whole lot of career left for Crow-Armstrong, a long-term franchise cornerstone thanks to the contract extension he signed before the season that will keep him in a Cubs uniform through 2032.
Isn’t it worth wondering if the newly minted two-time All Star can reach even greater heights?
Or, given that his month of June put him in the same club as Babe Ruth, is that asking too much?
“If you bottled this player that he is right this second and gave him 15 more years of that, it’d be pretty special,” Happ said. “There’s always room to get better at things, but this version of him in the last month is pretty spectacular.”
Time for Taillon?
Righty starter Jameson Taillon could still return from the injured list prior to the All-Star break, but the Cubs hope they don’t have to bring him back that quickly.
Manager Craig Counsell said Tuesday the team is planning for Taillon to follow Sunday’s minor league rehab start with another. But should a need arise during the Cubs’ road trip to end the first half, they could bring Taillon back sooner for a “limited” outing.
That safety-net approach makes sense considering the Cubs’ experience with pitching injuries, including the hamstring strain that’s sidelined Taillon since early June.
More pitching updates
The Cubs are also waiting on recoveries from injured righties Edward Cabrera and Daniel Palencia.
Cabrera, down with his own hamstring strain, had a positive day of work Sunday. A recent update from Counsell projected a recovery period lasting slightly longer than Taillon’s, which has already lasted a month.
Palencia, meanwhile, is said to be making progress, with the Cubs expecting their closer to start throwing off a mound following the break.
And that injured position player
Utility man Matt Shaw tested his sprained left hand while taking swings last weekend. The Cubs will give him some more time before testing it again.
“There’s symptoms still,” Counsell said, “so we’re giving him another four, five days to rest and we’re going to re-test and go from there.”
