A developing story: Pete Crow-Armstrong vs. left-handers

The Cubs will start rejuvenated left-hander Matthew Boyd against the Phillies on Monday — another opportunity for ex-Cub Kyle Schwarber to do what he does best: hit left-handed pitching.

Believe it or not, Schwarber not only hits left-handed pitching these days, but hits for average (.278) and power (11 home runs in 90 at-bats). In fact, he's statistically better vs. left-handers (..278/.404/.689/1.093) than vs. right-handers (.236/.362/.466/.828). He has more homers in 90 at-bats vs. lefties (11) than he does in 148 at-bats against righties (nine).

That's a huge career up-tick for a player who was platooned more often than not early in his career with the contending Cubs. Schwarber had 260 plate appearances vs. left-handers (out of 1,274 total PAs) in his first three full seasons with the Cubs (2015-18) and like many young left-handed hitters, didn't have much to show for it: a .182 batting average, .300 on-base percentage and .308 slugging percentage for a .608 OPS.

But like a lot of good young left-handed hitters, the more he saw left-handed pitching the better he got at it. In four seasons with the Phillies, Schwarber has 839 plate appearances against left-handers — nearly double what he had in five full seasons with the Cubs (435).

And the experience is paying off. In his first nine seasons in the big leagues, Schwarber hit .204/.319/.377.695 vs. left-handers. In the last two seasons, he's jumped to .293/.406/.550/.956. Schwarber, in fact, has hit 48 home runs vs. lefties in the last four seasons. He hit 18 in his first eight seasons.

Letting young lefties struggle and learn vs. left-handed pitchers is often a conundrum for managers. The Cubs were a contending team when Schwarber arrived and those developmental at-bats against lefties are more costly. When Anthony Rizzo came up in 2012, the Cubs were terrible and development was the priority. So playing him against left-handers was part of the plan.

Rizzo ended up getting 356 plate appearances in his first three seasons in the big leagues (including 2011 with the Padres), and it paid off. Rizzo hit .207 with a .617 OPS vs. left-handers in those first three seasons, but .278 with an .878 OPS vs. left-handers in the next four seasons (2014-2017), when the Cubs made the playoffs three times and won the World Series in 2016.

Schwarber didn't have the advantage those early at-bats vs. lefties, but he started to get more in 2019 and it paid dividends as the at-bats started to add up. He hit six homers vs. left-handers that season, as many as he had in his first three seasons (2015-18), with his slugging percentage climbing from .347 to .450.

I've been a lefty vs. lefty nerd since I couldn't hit any kind of pitching in Little League, so I had to ask him about it during a road trip in St. Louis that year.

"I think it's just able to get at-bats and be able to see and you go from there," Schwarber said. "Just feeling comfortable at the plate and you go from there. The more repetition, the better you recognize pitches and things like that. That's kind of the thought process — to be able to see more, the more you train your eyes and your body."

Cubs outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong has been making headlines all season

The last Cubs player to finish in the top 10 in triples and home runs was Javy Baez in 2018 — when he hit 34 homers (seventh) and nine triples (second) and finished second in MVP voting.

It's that simple for most good young left-handed hitters. So it's good to see Cubs outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong get regular at-bats against left-handed hitters in his breakout season, even as he struggles to hit them. Crow-Armstrong is hitting .181 (13-for-72) against lefties this season, with a .213 on-base percentage, .361 slugging percentage and .564 OPS (three home runs and 14 RBIs). He's much better against right-handers (.315/.350/.636/.986).

But even with the Cubs in contention, PCA doesn't sit vs. lefties. His 76 plate appearances vs. lefties this season is second on the team to Kyle Tucker's 89. Crow-Armstrong still has a long way to go to establish himself against all big-league pitching, but getting consistent at-bats vs. left-handers is a big part of that development.

Rizzo had 356 plate appearances against left-handed pitchers in his first three seasons (29 percent of his total PAs). Schwarber had 156 (21 percent). Crow-Armstrong is at 172 (28 percent), so he's trending more toward Rizzo than Schwarber. That figures to hold up with Crow-Armstrong's defense and speed making him a factor in every game — a key, if underrated, part of player development.

Cubs outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong is in the top 10 in the National League in seven categories: runs scored (50, second); stolen bases (21, second); RBIs (54, third); home runs (17, tied for fifth); doubles (15, tied for ninth); triples (3, tied for sixth); and hits (71, tied for ninth).