Pete Crow-Armstrong’s push toward the 40-40 club took another step forward Monday night, and with it, the National League MVP race may have finally tipped his way.
Crow-Armstrong homered and swiped two bases in the Chicago Cubs’ loss to the Milwaukee Brewers, leaving him at 41 home runs and 35 steals entering play. That puts 40-40 well within reach before the regular season ends, but the bigger story is how far his MVP case has moved ahead of Shohei Ohtani’s.
For a stretch last month, the conversation was tight. Crow-Armstrong and Ohtani were putting up similar offensive numbers, with stolen bases being the clear separator, and there was at least a believable path for Ohtani to reclaim the edge if he returned to the mound in September.
That path looks gone now.
Crow-Armstrong’s bat has separated from Ohtani’s in a hurry. Ohtani has 30 home runs and a 143 wRC+ this season, while Crow-Armstrong now owns a double-digit home run advantage and has pushed his own wRC+ to 159. At this point, the Cubs outfielder’s offensive surge has become too big to ignore.
The latest Dodgers update only sharpened that gap. Ohtani returned to the starting lineup on Sunday after being held out for much of the previous week, but Los Angeles indicated he will not pitch for the rest of the 2026 season. He has not pitched since the start of July, and that announcement all but locks in the MVP outcome.
Even as a hitter, Ohtani hasn’t been himself lately. The Dodgers are now dealing with a bigger question about whether he should be placed on the IL to give him time to reset before the playoffs, though it remains to be seen whether the team will do that.
Crow-Armstrong’s MVP case has become the loudest part of the story, even if the Cubs’ overall playoff position is still unsettled. The remaining question in Chicago is no longer whether he’s the favorite for the award. It’s whether Cubs fans are watching the greatest season ever by a Cubs player.
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Brewers Bullpen Suddenly Has A Late Season Question Cubs Will Notice
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Pat Murphy said there is no structural damage, and Anderson is expected to be back after Sept. 22, which keeps the door open for a postseason return. For the Cubs, who are watching every piece of the division race, it is a small but meaningful development because Milwaukees bullpen depth has been one of the reasons the Brewers have been so hard to shake. [Read more 🡒]