The Chicago Cubs are coming off a postseason appearance where they made it all the way to the NLDS, but did not have enough juice in their series against their division rivals, the Milwaukee Brewers. 

So, after the season, the front office got right to work figuring out what areas they needed an upgrade in and replacing free agent players with other names. 

They made a ton of moves that should put them in a better position for the 2026 season, but none bigger than signing Alex Bregman and then acquiring Edward Cabrera in a trade with the Miami Marlins. 

MORE: MLB analyst puts pressure on Cubs’ Moises Ballesteros to perform

Cubs fans may want to ignore this Pete Crow-Armstrong prediction

However, despite adding these big names, they did lose Kyle Tucker as he signed a free agent deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers. So, this puts bigger pressure on Pete Crow-Armstrong to not only perform offensively, but defensively as well. 

Looking at how he finished the season last year, Bleacher Report’s Joel Reuter believes he could be up for quite a challenging season. 

“There is no denying the fact that he hit .216/.262/.372 with just six home runs and a strikeout rate beyond 25 percent after the All-Star break. Bottom-of-the-league marks in chase rate and walk rate show his approach at the plate still needs significant refinement.”

Some could point to his knee injury in July as a cause for his regression, but it is still something to pay attention to as we get closer and closer to Opening Day 2026. 

While the team’s success does not rely solely on him, he is expected to be a huge contributor this upcoming season. If he comes out struggling to start the year, that could spell disaster for a team with not too many options in the outfield, especially now that Owen Cassie plays for the Marlins.

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