Cubs’ Pete Crow-Armstrong makes more history with 25th home run fifth multihomer game of 2025 season..
Crow-Armstrong went 3-for-4 with a walk and two home runs as the Cubs beat the Twins 8-1 on Thursday.
MINNEAPOLIS — Pete Crow-Armstrong’s second home run of the game soared above Target Field’s advertisement video board in right-center field and into the third row of fans’ outstretched hands.
It was part of an offensive onslaught as the Cubs’ lineup broke out of a two-game slump to avoid the sweep against the Twins with an 8-1 victory Thursday. And with three games to go before Crow-Armstrong takes the field in the All-Star Game, it brought his season total to 25 homers.
“If we’re talking about this series as a whole, I would have liked to spread them out maybe, pick a couple different spots,” Crow-Armstrong said of his home runs coming in bunches. “But I’m glad they came today.”
With his fifth multihomer game of the season, Crow-Armstrong unlocked a laundry list of notable achievements:
He is the first Cub in his age-23 season or younger to record five multihomer games in a season, with plenty of time left to add to it. The last Cub of any age to log that many multihomer games in a season was Derrek Lee in 2005.
As of Thursday afternoon, only the Mariners’ Cal Raleigh had more such games this season (seven). The Yankees’ Aaron Judge also had five.
Crow-Armstrong is one homer away from the team record for home runs by a player in his age-23 season or younger, which was set by Kris Bryant in 2015.
Crow-Armstrong also has 27 stolen bases. Having joined the 25-25 club in his 92nd game this year, he’s the fourth-fastest player in MLB history to 25-plus home runs and stolen bases in a season, behind Eric Davis (69 games) in 1987, Bobby Bonds (91) in 1973 and Alfonso Soriano (91) in 2002, according to mlb.com.
He tied Seiya Suzuki for the team home-run lead, making this the first time the Cubs have had two players hit 25 homers before the team’s 95th game, according to mlb.com.
Crow-Armstrong also doubled in the ninth inning and drew a walk against Twins starter Chris Paddack, who has an impressive career walk rate of 5.2%. It was Crow-Armstrong’s 18th walk of the season.
“That would be the way that I finally find a way on base,” Crow-Armstrong quipped.
Crow-Armstrong’s power surge has limited his chances to maximize his speed on the bases. But hitting coach Dustin Kelly laughed at the half-baked theory that a player with Crow-Armstrong’s speed could benefit from putting the ball on the ground more.
“We know that the best production is balls that are hit on a line,” Kelly told the Sun-Times this week. “His best swings create natural loft. And when he’s on the ground too much, it usually means that there’s something wrong with his bat path.”
Crow-Armstrong is hitting grounders at the lowest rate in his career (31.1%). And he’s pulling balls in the air (28.1%) far more often than last season (19.3%).
“He’s almost breaking the mold of a great defensive center fielder and a baserunner,” Kelly said. “He’s a real offensive threat for us.”
In that same vein, shortstop Dansby Swanson touted the importance, especially for young players, of finding confidence in their unique identities and abilities. He has seen that in Crow-Armstrong.
“He’s super wiry and super strong, and you can never box a player into one thing or another,” Swanson said. “I feel like so many of us have such capabilities that you don’t want to box yourself into becoming one type of player and one-dimensional.
“Obviously, Pete has so many different skill sets and tools in his box that he can continuously tap into. And it’s really, really fun to watch.”
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