<p>As much as Pete Crow-Armstrong does on a major league field, he doesn’t pitch.</p><p>The <a class="Link" href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/cubs" >Cubs</a>’ star center fielder woke up Monday baseball’s leader in bWAR (4.0) and ranked third in the sport in fWAR (3.5), a reflection of his all-around excellence as a defender and a hitter.</p><p>His bat has caught fire in the last couple weeks, and after three at-bats Monday night – he smacked a second leadoff homer in three days in his first – he was hitting .444 with seven long balls and 14 extra-base hits since May 30, the night <a class="Link" href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/cubs/2026/05/30/cubs-pete-crow-armstrong-cardinals-shirtless-tarps-off-fans-home-run-sliding-catch-overrated-chants" >he silenced Cardinals fans</a> with a 444-foot homer into their section of shirtless hecklers.</p><p>And then there’s that dazzling center-field defense, which has been so good so often that even his diving, highlight-reel catches are becoming commonplace.</p><p>“He’s been great defensively since he showed up in the big leagues, but his consistency has been on another level this year,” second baseman Nico Hoerner told the Sun-Times on Saturday. “It’s a great thing when you can have a player who’s already great at something still find ways to improve. He’s been a huge asset for us.”</p><p>Crow-Armstrong, though, won’t be able to drag the Cubs back to the top of the standings on his own, as he admitted last week.</p><p>And even if his bat at the top of the order ignites the team’s lineup, that won’t be enough to get them back to where they were before an ugly 8-22 stretch that dropped them from the top of the NL Central to .500.</p><p>No, to get back to looking like a championship contender, the Cubs need every phase to click at the same time.</p><p>“How we win games, night to night, is something that the whole roster carries,” manager Craig Counsell said before Monday’s game.