Pete Crow-Armstrong’s rise this season has done more than energize the Cubs. It has pushed him into the center of baseball’s national conversation, and the latest jersey sales numbers show just how wide that pull has become.
MLB announced its 2026 jersey rankings on Thursday, and Crow-Armstrong landed third behind only Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees. That puts the Cubs outfielder in rare company, especially for a player who has become the face of his team in a season defined by his own surge.
The full top of the list looked like this: Ohtani at No. 1, Judge at No. 2, Crow-Armstrong at No. 3, followed by Ronald Acuña Jr. of the Atlanta Braves, Fernando Tatis Jr. of the San Diego Padres and Freddie Freeman of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Ohtani’s grip on the top spot is nothing new. MLB said he is the first player since the league began tracking jersey sales in 2010 to finish No. 1 for four straight seasons.
Judge’s showing was just as notable in its own way. He came in second even after an injury-hit 2026 campaign that limited him to 66 games, a reminder of how strong his profile remains in New York and across the sport.
For Crow-Armstrong, though, the message is bigger than one ranking. Thursday afternoon at Wrigley Field brought the scene into focus: the crowd, the buzz, the sea of No. 4 jerseys and “CROW-ARMSTRONG” across the back as he joined baseball’s 40/40 club and helped the Cubs clinch a playoff berth. It was the kind of day that felt like a turning point, and the jersey sales only reinforced it.
The Cubs have not had a player near this kind of national jersey-sales spotlight in years. Before Crow-Armstrong, you have to go back to the Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant and Javier Baez era to find Chicago players showing up this high on the list.
That group came with a World Series title and the end of a 108-year championship drought. Crow-Armstrong’s path is different, but the effect is similar: he has become the player who has carried the team’s season and captured attention well beyond the North Side.
Pitching injuries and inconsistency have defined the Cubs, but Crow-Armstrong’s performance has changed the way people see them. And one more detail jumps off the page: the top nine players on the jersey-sales list all play for postseason teams.
MLB’s data also marked the first time since 2021 that a Cubs player cracked the top 25. That alone says plenty about where Crow-Armstrong stands now. He looks like the new face of the franchise, and if this season is any indication, he may not be done climbing.
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