(670 The Score) Cubs outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong struggled mightily at the plate after his September call-up at the end of last season, but he isn't worried that those brief woes portend anything moving forward.
The 21-year-old Crow-Armstrong was 0-for-14 with three walks and two sacrifice bunts in 19 plate appearance as he was used sparingly – often as a defensive replacement or pinch-runner – in the final weeks of the season.
Back in Chicago on Friday for the start of Cubs Convention, Crow-Armstrong expressed his belief that he can be a key contributor for the team in 2024 as he continues to learn and get more playing time.
"I did a good job off the field, in the clubhouse, behind the scenes of just kind of learning and watching and lurking in the shadows a little bit and watching dudes do their thing and go about their day," Crow-Armstrong said. "But I think anybody, if they watched, they can say they wished I would've produced more offensively. But that would be my simple answer – I think I want to come back and I want to show people that the 14 or so at-bats I had up there, that doesn't paint enough of a picture. I'm excited to just come back and contribute. I think if I just play my game, I'm going to do that. I've gotten a lot of support thus far. It's an exciting time to be a Cub for me and a lot of guys around here."
Crow-Armstrong acknowledged he needs to learn to handle high fastballs better.
"Guys know how to pitch," he said. "I think if we're going to talk about parts of the zone, quadrants of the zone that I handle well or don't, I think it's obviously the high pitch that I don't handle nearly as well as the lower half of the zone. Again, there's always different ways to go about everything. I've been in the cage just about every day with (Cubs hitting coach Dustin Kelly). There's no emphasis on swing change or anything like that. It's about getting in the cage like any other offseason and getting your feet back locked into the ground, getting your base.
"What comes after that is really continuing to refine my zone, really understanding where the top of the zone is and how I do a better job of mixing takes in with the swings that I take at that."
