PCA Is 4 Steals Away From a Historic 40-40 Season

Pete Crow-Armstrong swiped his 36th base on Tuesday, September 8, against the Brewers in Milwaukee — off Jacob Misiorowski in the fifth inning with the game tied 1-1 — and just like that, he’s four stolen bases away from one of the rarest milestones in modern baseball: the 40-40 season. With 41 home runs already in the books and 17 games left on the schedule, the question isn’t whether PCA can get there. It’s when.

Three Steals in Two Games, Right When It Matters

Stolen base No. 36 came two days after PCA crossed the 40-homer threshold in Miami against the Marlins. In the Milwaukee series alone, he swiped bases 34 and 35 on Monday, then added No. 36 on Tuesday. Three steals in two games — timed perfectly for a stretch run the Cubs didn’t dare dream about entering September.

Only six players in American and National League history have ever finished a season with 40 home runs and 40 stolen bases. PCA would be the seventh — and the first in Cubs franchise history. For context: no Chicago player had even reached 40 home runs in a season since Derrek Lee in 2005. PCA didn’t just get there — he’s chasing 40 steals on top of it.

Younger Than Ernie Banks at 40 Home Runs

At 24 years and 165 days old, Crow-Armstrong is now the youngest player in Cubs history to reach 40 home runs — surpassing Ernie Banks by 49 days. That’s a name Wrigley Field treats with reverence. He’s also the first left-handed hitter in the organization to reach that mark since Billy Williams hit 42 in 1970.

Getting to 40 steals shouldn’t be the hard part. PCA’s sprint speed ranks in the 96th percentile across all of MLB per Statcast, and his stolen base success rate this season shows he doesn’t run unless he knows he’s going to make it. Four steals in 17 games is a pace he’s already proven he can sustain.

The real risk? The Cubs managing his workload down the stretch — or opposing pitchers simply refusing to give him anything to run on. With an OPS of .953 and a fWAR of 9.6 — the highest in all of MLB this season, with Bobby Witt Jr. second at 6.5 — managers have every reason to pitch around him. PCA has drawn 75 walks in 650 plate appearances this year, which tells you exactly how much respect he’s getting.

Why This Goes Beyond the Record

The 40-40 isn’t just a counting stat — it’s proof that a player has elite power and elite speed in the same season. In the NL MVP race, closing out the 40-40 before September 30 makes PCA’s case nearly airtight. He already leads MLB in offensive fWAR, and his .953 OPS is the best of his career.

If he pulls it off, the Cubs will have witnessed something the franchise hasn’t seen in over 90 years: a player combining power and speed at a level that, for most of baseball history, belonged to a list of exactly six names.