It's Time to Call Up Pete Crow-Armstrong

Pete Crow-Armstrong is going to be called up by September, but I need the Cubs to cut the bullshit and bring up their number one prospect as soon as possible.

The Cubs have a top-three record since the All-Star break, they've made up ground in the Wild Card and NL Central standings and despite being above .500 during the past two weeks they are hitting a bit of a rough patch. Since taking two of three against the Atlanta Braves, the Cubs are 7-6, following a brutal loss Tuesday night against the Detroit Tigers.

It's mainly been the pitching staff that has failed the Cubs as of late, but the offense has shown some concerning signs in August as well. At this point, you can probably consider the Cubs more lucky than good in the past week thanks to simply playing inferior talent.

The Cubs needs a spark and Pete Crow-Armstrong is the ideal player to provide it.

And the thing is, PCA can provide help in several different ways. It's not just a morale boost or bringing more energy to the dugout. This guy can, you know, be really good. At the very least he'd be a defensive stud late in games, can steal a base if you need it and yes, give the team some fire down the stretch.

A few weeks ago when Crow-Armstrong was promoted to Triple-A, I wrote about the possibility that he'd come up in September and I pondered how much playing time he'd actually get. Well, right now there are multiple guys who could use a breather, maybe some time on the bench that would immediately open up playing time for PCA.

We all love Christopher Morel. He's had some great moments, there was a good stretch in the summer when he settled in nicely as the DH, but he's been slumping hard for a while now. Here are Morel's numbers since July 29.

This covers Morel's last 79 plate appearances: slash line of .155/.241/.338, 39.2 K%, 10.1 BB%, 56 wRC+, 579 OPS.

The Cubs made a smart decision earlier this month, when right fielder Seiya Suzuki was benched for about a week and during that time he was able to have a mental reset, while also making actual changes to his approach. That paid off and since returning to the starting lineup against the New York Mets, Suzuki has been on a tear at the plate.

I wish the Cubs would do something similar with Ian Happ, because despite his various slumps throughout the season he continues to play almost every day and he keeps batting third for some reason. Here are Happ's number since Aug. 3.

This covers Happ's last 67 plate appearances: slash line of .190/.239/.333, 16.4 K%, 6.0 BB%, 53 wRC+, .572 OPS.

During Tuesday's game, I tweeted about Mike Tauchman starting to slump. He ended up going 0-for-2, with a walk before he was lifted for a pinch-hitter. He's been fantastic and I'm not kidding when I say that the Cubs aren't where they currently are without Tauchman in 2023. But his past two weeks go to show that guys don't always stay hot and it would be cool if the team had another option available like PCA to fill in when a few of the outfielders are struggling.

In his last nine games, which does include Tuesday night, Tauchman is only 4-for-27, with 7 walks and 7 strikeouts. Credit to him for still getting on base with the base on balls, but that .323 OBP during the past two weeks isn't great either.

So yeah, when you have one guy in Morel struggling for a month, another in Happ who's slumping for three weeks and then Tauchman who is starting to really struggle, you should probably be more proactive to get another guy up who can step in immediately and who knows, maybe he'll stay on fire and help you win games.

On Tuesday night, Crow-Armstrong extended his hitting streak to 15 games at Triple-A.

It's time. Call up Pete Crow-Armstrong.