Pete Crow-Armstrong becomes the 1st Chicago Cub with a 40-40 season -- and only the 7th player in MLB history

Meghan Montemurro, Chicago Tribune on Sep 24, 2026

Published in Baseball

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Chicago Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong’s combination of incredible speed and power has put him among the upper echelon of elite multitool players in Major League Baseball history.

With his steal of second base in the first inning Thursday after a leadoff walk against Miami Marlins right-hander Tyler Phillips, Crow-Armstrong became only the seventh major-leaguer with at least 40 home runs and 40 stolen bases in a season.

The 24-year-old National League MVP favorite joins Shohei Ohtani (2024), Ronald Acuña Jr. (2023), Alfonso Soriano (2006), Alex Rodriguez (1998), Barry Bonds (1996) and José Canseco (1988) in the 40-40 club. He is the first Cub to achieve the feat.

“It’s super cool, I mean, there’s only so many guys in the game that can even think about accomplishing it,” president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said Tuesday. “The list is pretty amazing.

“It’s the best position player season I’ve ever seen in my career, and he’s going to win the MVP, he’s going to win the Hank Aaron Award, he’s going to win the Platinum Glove — to me that’s more impressive than any kind of triple crown that we would talk about.”

The stolen bases haven’t been as frequent lately for Crow-Armstrong, in part because of his power surge over the last two months. In that span, the lefty has slugged 44 extra-base hits, including 24 home runs, while recording 17 steals in that 63-game stretch.

His 40 steals are a career high after swiping 35 bases last year.

“I always know that I’m going to turn it on at some point, but I’m proud of how I did this year,” Crow-Armstrong told the Tribune earlier this month. “It was a very honest showing all year of everything. So, yeah, I’m proud of that.”

Crow-Armstrong’s 40-40 performance is a high point in a season filled with them.

He already was the first Cub to record back-to-back 30-30 seasons, a mark he reached Aug. 17 when he memorably slugged both a leadoff and walk-off home run against the White Sox at Wrigley Field.

His nine games this year with at least one home run and one stolen base broke Ryne Sandberg’s franchise record (seven in 1991). Crow-Armstrong also passed Hall of Famer Billy Williams’ 1970 record for most home runs in a season by a left-handed Cubs hitter.

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