Pete Crow-Armstrong is doing something professional baseball hasn’t seen in a century. According to OptaSTATS, the Cubs center fielder currently ranks in the top five across all of MLB simultaneously in home runs, triples, and stolen bases in the 2026 season. The last player to finish a season with top-5 rankings in all three categories was Willie Mays — in 1955. That’s not fan hyperbole. That’s a record with a name, a number, and a date.
The stat that puts him in the same sentence as Mays
On September 3, 2026, OptaSTATS posted the number that summarizes PCA’s season better than any highlight reel:
«The Cubs’ Pete Crow-Armstrong ranks within the top five among all MLB players in HR, 3B & SB this season. The only player in the last 100 years to finish a season with such ranks in all three categories was Willie Mays in 1955.»
In 1955, Mays hit 51 home runs, led the National League in triples, and stole 24 bases. He was the first player in baseball history to combine 50-plus home runs with 20-plus steals in the same season. The Say Hey Kid is, for many, the greatest to ever play the game. PCA’s name appearing in the same statistical sentence isn’t an editorial choice — it’s what OptaSTATS’ data says.
One important read on the Opta claim: it doesn’t say Crow-Armstrong leads any single category. It says he’s top 5 in all three at the same time. That alone hadn’t been seen in 100 years.
What PCA has done in 2026
Through 141 games, Crow-Armstrong has 39 home runs and 93 RBI, with a .280 AVG, .375 OBP, and .943 OPS. At the time of the OptaSTATS post, his 38 home runs had him ranked second in all of MLB, per ESPN.
August alone deserves its own paragraph: 14 home runs in a single month, including a three-homer, six-RBI game against the Reds on August 30 — followed by two more the very next day. Since June 1, he’s hit 32 home runs, seven more than any other player in that span, according to MLB Stats’ Sarah Langs.
On defense, the case only gets stronger. PCA ranks second among all fielders in OAA (outs above average) at 23, and third among center fielders in defensive runs saved at 14, per Baseball Savant and The Fielding Bible.
The MVP odds reflect all of it. Bleacher Report lists him as the overwhelming NL MVP favorite at -1100 on FanDuel, with Shohei Ohtani a distant second at +600. In an ESPN poll of 21 active players, 15 voted for Crow-Armstrong. Only four chose Ohtani.
The numbers behind the case
Crow-Armstrong’s spot in the record books isn’t a fluke. Statcast shows a 90.2 mph average exit velocity and an xwOBA of .367 in 2026 — meaning the quality of his contact suggests he should actually be producing even more than he already is. His sprint speed sits at the 96th percentile league-wide: flat-out elite.
Full 2026 season numbers:
- 627 plate appearances
- 39 home runs, 93 RBI
- AVG: .280
- OPS: .943
- xwOBA: .367 (expected production based on contact quality)
- Average exit velocity: 90.2 mph
- Barrel rate: 13%
- Hard-hit rate: 48.7% (balls hit 95+ mph)
- Average bat speed: 74.9 mph
How he compares to the rest of MLB:
- xwOBA: 93rd percentile (elite)
- Bat speed: 83rd percentile
- Barrel %: 87th percentile
- Hard-hit %: 89th percentile
- Sprint speed: 96th percentile (elite)
