Pete Crow-Armstrong needed to put an awful August in his rearview mirror, and he came up with an interesting tactic to accomplish that.
On Monday, the Chicago Cubs trailed the Atlanta Braves 6-2 in the bottom of the sixth, and Crow-Armstrong came to the plate with two outs and a runner on first. And after getting into an 0-2 hole, the 23-year-old speedster did something totally unexpected: He bunted.
Crow-Armstrong laid down a beauty, completely catching the defense off guard. Third baseman Austin Riley just watched as the ball died on the lip between grass and dirt in front of his third base position. The next batter, Dansby Swanson, doubled down the left field line.
The Cubs were able to finish off the comeback from there, thanks to a game-tying home run and walk-off single from catcher Carson Kelly, the most visible hero of the day.
But, as manager Craig Counsell explained, Crow-Armstrong’s willingness to try something unconventional to try to help the team win in the middle of a slump may have been the turning point.
“That was probably what was going through his head, too,” Counsell said, per Jordan Bastian of MLB.com. “Just trying to find something positive that he could do.
“It’s the element of surprise right there. But Dansby follows with a big hit, we get two runs and then you’re talking about a ballgame.”
It doesn’t get much more surprising than a two-strike bunt. Then again, Crow-Armstrong had a .446 OPS in August when swinging away, so until he finds his groove again, it might not be the worst idea.
No one will be able to take Crow-Armstrong’s All-Star nod away from him this year, but to become a true superstar, he’ll need to find more consistency in the months and years to come.
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