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MVPCA?

By
Rice Cube
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105

We touched on the subject during the last pod when we were doing the trade deadline postmortem, but now that the sweep is complete and he factored heavily in the success of the Cubs in all three games in some manner, it’s fair to wonder if Pete Crow-Armstrong has done enough to separate himself from the unicorn that is Shohei Ohtani. If we take a look at the FanGraphs leaderboards (they’ll update tomorrow), PCA is leading MLB by a full length, at 7.5 fWAR heading into today and almost two full wins above Yordan Alvarez, who I think has the triple crown going in the American League. Shohei Ohtani being a unicorn has a combined 6.4 fWAR (3.4 batting, 3.0 pitching) before today’s game, and we already know he probably won’t be on the mound again for a little bit, and he also gets the DH penalty on defense which saps the WAR. There is a way to find the up-to-date WAR as games finish but I don’t know how, so if you do know feel free to point it out in the comments, but Meghan Montemurro says it’s up to 7.8 fWAR now, which is nuts. Also a fun excuse to share the postgame (Pete’s is towards the second half of the video):

I liked the part where he basically said that of course he thinks about the MVP (who wouldn’t) but he’d prefer to win. Win they did, as we see in the three games against the Dodgers:

  • Game 1: 1 for 4 with a walk, scoring 2 runs
  • Game 2: 2 for 4 with a run and RBI
  • Game 3: 3 for 5 with 2 bombs and 4 RBI

The WAR lead and the all-around game PCA has shown should give him a boost over Ohtani, but who even knows with the voters. But he has a very good chance, and that’s more than we probably thought at the beginning of the year.

105 COMMENTS

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  8. A lot can happen the rest of the way, but if the season ended today, PCA has had the better season and I don’t even think it’s really that close. It blows my mind that I can even say that. If the voting took place today, I think Ohtani wins on name recognition alone, but I think that’s changing and by the end of the season if things are as they are now, PCA wins. Long way to go. Winning the division would help and the Cubs play the Brewers 7 times. Unlikely but not impossible.

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  9. dmick89,

    Yeah, pretty big ifs in play here, but if Ohtani doesn’t pitch much the rest of the way and PCA holds to his season-long pace, I gotta think Pete wins the voting.

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  10. I’m equally impressed and disgusted with Peterson committing the three-disengagement balk with a runner on third. (dying laughing)

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  11. jesus christ, I can’t wait until the AI bubble pops so these fucking AI boosters can actually assess their excitement when the entire industry isn’t being propped up by a business model of selling hundred dollar bills for a buck

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  14. Kind of floored that Civale is still on the roster after the deadline, I figured he’d be the next DFA from the pen after Woodford

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  16. berselius,

    I think it’s going to take a few more days for the interim starters to migrate back into the bullpen rotation. But yeah, Craig sure seems to like Civale more than I do. (dying laughing)

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  25. andcounting:
    I’m equally impressed and disgusted with Peterson committing the three-disengagement balk with a runner on third. (dying laughing)

    Was very displeased in the moment but with two down and that guy at 3B it seems like a good surprise move, you just have to actually get the guy

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  35. Heh, looks like BN skipped their regular thursday pod this week, for some reason 🤔

    EDIT: ope never mind, I forgot it doesn’t show up as a post

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  36. To-day’s base ball squadron

    CF PCA
    RF Suzuki
    3B Bregman
    1B Busch
    2B Hoerner
    LF Happ
    C Kelly
    DH Ramirez
    SS Swandong

    SP Gausman

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  49. Found this on twitter

    Players to reach 8 fWAR on August 7th or earlier, since 2000:

    2002 Barry Bonds
    2024 Aaron Judge
    2024 Bobby Witt Jr.
    2026 PETE CROW-ARMSTRONG

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  56. dmick89:
    When was the last time the Cubs were within 5 games of the Brewers? Seems like it’s been awhile.

    End of May, I think.

    I’m obviously biased and the Brewers clearly usurped the voodoo magic from the Cardinals around 2018, but I think the Cubs are the more talented team this year (especially after the TDL).

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  57. Perkins,

    I’d probably still have the Beers ahead but it’s a lot closer. I’m lukewarm about the cubs deadline after sitting on it for a few days but won’t deny that the pitching looks like it’s moved the cubs out of the “completely outclassed” category and up to Cromulent

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  59. berselius,

    I think the teams are fairly equal at this point, but if Palencia returns and is dominant, I might give the edge to the Cubs. I think the Cubs have the higher ceiling at this point and the best player, but the Brewers have the best starting pitcher by a mile.

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  60. dmick89,

    Tbh I’ve pretty much counted out Palencia for the rest of the year. He’s already been on the IL twice including a vague elbow issue, which I feel like is a loudly ticking time bomb. I’d be fine with closer Ben Brown though.

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  61. It might be my imagination but it feels like cohen is explicitly trying to do a bad Boog impersonation this series.

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  64. Really hope the hypothetical situation where the cubs backed out on Detmers because they could get Clay Holmes wasn’t a thing 😂

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  95. Though I missed a bunch of this while trying to figure out why most of the hotels in greater Madison are sold out on a random monday

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