RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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Pete Crow-Armstrong leads all MLB players in wins above replacement this season, according to Baseball Reference. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images) Michael Reaves via Getty Images
Shohei Ohtani tattooed the seventh pitch of Wednesday’s series finale between his Los Angeles Dodgers and the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. With an exit velocity of 110.2 mph , the ball jumped off his bat and whipped over the right-field wall .
Pete Crow-Armstrong, a contender to dethrone Ohtani as the National League’s MVP, answered in the bottom half of the inning with some leadoff fireworks of his own.
PCA teed off on the first pitch Dodgers southpaw Eric Lauer tossed, a 90.2-mph four-seam fastball. His game-tying solo shot soared 420 feet to center. It also made him the first player in Cubs history to mount consecutive seasons with at least 25 homers and 25 stolen bases, according to ESPN’s Jesse Rogers .
Pete Crow-Armstrong wastes no time responding 💥 After Shohei Ohtani led off the game with a homer, PCA gets it right back with a first-pitch leadoff dinger! https://t.co/MtRmskiBWj pic.twitter.com/I32B4tym1F
— MLB (@MLB) August 5, 2026
Crow-Armstrong’s response, and MVP case, didn’t end there. The next inning, he ripped an RBI double that bounced off the right-field wall . Two innings after that, in the fourth, he launched another big fly off Lauer. That two-run dinger traveled 405 feet, again to right. The no-doubter lifted Chicago to a 5-1 advantage. Soon after, an RBI single from Alex Bregman extended that lead to 6-1.
Crow-Armstrong, who entered the day leading all MLB players in wins above replacement (7.0), per Baseball Reference , showcased his massive improvement against left-handed pitching this season .
That’s a big reason why his OPS is well north of .900 in 2026.
This story is being updated.
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