MV-Pete: Cubs star Pete Crow-Armstrong wins NL MVP Award after historic 2026 season
Jesse Rogers on Will Venable’s Impact + Cubs-Brewers Gap “as far as they’ve been in years”
ESPN’s Jesse Rogers joins the show from MLB GM Meetings from Vegas to break down all the latest MLB, White Sox and Cubs offseason news. Jesse dives into Will Venable winning AL Manager of the Year and how his player empathy and clubhouse culture drive success. Plus, we look at the Cubs’ pitching rotation overhaul, Ben Brown’s successful surgery timeline, why the front office stayed out of the Tarik Skubal sweepstakes, and how the Chicago organization plans to close the gap on the division-rival Brewers.
CHICAGO – If you’ve been to Wrigley Field, you’ve heard the chants.
Chicago Cubs fans have been clamoring for Pete Crow-Armstrong to take home one of MLB’s most prestigious awards with “M-V-Pete” chants. It has now come to fruition.
Star outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong, after a historic 2026 season with the Cubs, has won the 2026 NL MVP Award.
The backstory:
Crow-Armstrong turned in one of the best seasons in Cubs franchise history.
He took over as the Cubs’ lead-off man, and provided a spark almost immediately in games in 2026.
Crow-Armstrong led all MLB hitters with 84 extra base hits, 357 total bases and 119 runs scored. He recorded 107 RBIs. Of those 84 extra-base hits, he had 31 doubles and eight triples.
He was also a stellar defensive player, earning his second consecutive Gold Glove award. Crow-Armstrong was also the NL Player of the Month in June and August this season.
There were times when Crow-Armstrong felt inevitable. His Aug. 17 opening and closing against the Chicago White Sox where he hit a lead-off home run on the first pitch he saw in the first inning and a walk-off home run in the 10th inning of a 7-5 win in the Crosstown Classic.
He joined Vic Power as the sixth player in MLB history to hit a lead-off home run on the first pitch of the game and a walk-off home run on the last pitch of the game. Power accomplished that on May 7, 1957.
On June 15, Crow-Armstrong hit for his first career cycle and the 15th in Cubs’ history. Just nine days before his hit for the cycle, Crow-Armstrong hit game-tying home runs in the sixth and ninth innings before the Cubs walked it off in the 10th. Few players had the same ability to shine when the lights were brightest this year.
Most notably, the Cubs’ star signed an extension this offseason. He inked a six-year, $115 million contract extension in March. That ties him to the ball club through the next decade as the face of its franchise.
By the numbers:
It was a historic year for Crow-Armstrong, who entered rare air this season.
He was the seventh player in MLB history to join the 40-40 club, consisting of players that have hit 40 home runs and stolen 40 bases in a single season.
Beyond that, his numbers were far and away better than any other player in the National League.
According to FanGraphs, Crow-Armstrong led the Majors with 10.6 wins above replacement in 2026. His WAR was over three points better than the next closest player, Royals infielder Bobby Whitt. Crow-Armstrong’s 10.6 WAR is the 34th-highest number on FanGraphs’ leaderboard of all players since 1871, and is second in Cubs’ history to only Rogers Hornsby’s 11.0 fWAR in 1929.
Crow-Armstrong’s 45 home runs also tied former Cub Kyle Schwarber for the MLB lead in homers. Crow-Armstrong was second in the NL with 41 stolen bases.
The Source: Story was written by FOX Chicago’s Chris Kwiecinski with additional information from the Chicago Cubs and MLB.
