The Crazy PCA Stats and Tidbits Thread

[Rcal10]

2 hours ago, We Got The Whole 9 said:

Before a couple nights ago I had probably spent about an hour lifetime scrolling X. Then a post popped up on my feed and I decided to check it, and several others, out. Phew - the hatred for Pete is alive and well. I can understand some of the ones who don't like the emotional reactions and questionable sportsmanship and the way he can influence kids by them, But by and large he has a lot of people who completely loathe him and try to downplay his success to massive degrees. 

 

5/23 is when he was instituted in the leadoff spot, so that's the line of demarcation for me. Since that date he has 7.9 fwar and 2nd place has 3.8. He has a 400 PA stretch of a 200 wRC+.

 

Just LOL, he's such a freak. 

I don’t get the hatred towards him. He is exactly the type of player most people today love. Some older baseball fans have issues with guys being flashy. I used to be that way, but I realize my demographic isn’t what baseball is playing to any longer, so I have come to accept it. But I do understand when an older guy thinks showboating is too much. But the game today is geared to younger viewers. Those viewers generally like that in a player. They like the player who can do everything. I am thinking of the guys in their 30’s and 40’s I feel that is what they like. Same with younger kids. So, in my mind, PCA should be loved by the modern baseball fan. He is flashy, and does everything well. I think he is misunderstood by a lot of fans who view him as cocky.
On a personal level I have met him twice and each time he has been very respectful. In fact, one time when I met him, the next day I saw him again at breakfast and he walked past my table and spoke to me. I found him to be a very nice person. 

[bukie]

I am particularly enjoying the manufactured drama in the MVP race when Pete has double the fWAR of any other hitter in the NL and a 3+ fWAR lead on Ohtani (who isn't going to pitch, guys, and even if he did wouldn't accrue an extra 3 fWAR in one month). 

And like I said last night, it's not only the rate stats where he's in the lead now. His counting stats:

HR: 38 (2nd behind Schwarber with 40)
R: 99 (2nd behind Wood with 100)
SB: 32 (2nd behind Nunez with 43)
RBI: 91 (5th behind Stewart 105, Burleson 100, Walker 97 and Abrams 92)
AVG: .283 (12th among qualified in NL, Arraez leads at .312)
OPS: .954 (1st, 26 points over Wood)
wOBA: .405 (1st, 10 points over Wood)
wRC+: 160 (1st, 10 points over Wood)

[sneakypower]

it's nearing the point where any first-place votes for Ohtani probably ought to have their voting privileges revoked

[bukie]

One other amusing (to me) tidbit: Pete is 10th in the NL in walks, but 2nd on his own team (Busch), and 5 Cubs are among the top 20 batters in walks (Busch, PCA, Happ, Bregman, Suzuki).

[We Got The Whole 9]

30 minutes ago, sneakypower said:

it's nearing the point where any first-place votes for Ohtani probably ought to have their voting privileges revoked

Straight Arrieta-ing this thing away

[Derwood]

9 hours ago, imb said:

what a fun thing to think about during the greatest run any of us have seen from a cubs player since sosa

It's fun that he's so amazingly awesome this year that a 7.0 fWAR would be a let down

[javy knows my name]

On 8/31/2026 at 10:40 AM, Rcal10 said:

I don’t get the hatred towards him. He is exactly the type of player most people today love. Some older baseball fans have issues with guys being flashy. I used to be that way, but I realize my demographic isn’t what baseball is playing to any longer, so I have come to accept it. But I do understand when an older guy thinks showboating is too much. But the game today is geared to younger viewers. Those viewers generally like that in a player. They like the player who can do everything. I am thinking of the guys in their 30’s and 40’s I feel that is what they like. Same with younger kids. So, in my mind, PCA should be loved by the modern baseball fan. He is flashy, and does everything well. I think he is misunderstood by a lot of fans who view him as cocky.
On a personal level I have met him twice and each time he has been very respectful. In fact, one time when I met him, the next day I saw him again at breakfast and he walked past my table and spoke to me. I found him to be a very nice person. 

I think if he were on any other team in the NL , I'd hate his guts

[Rex Buckingham]

2 hours ago, javy knows my name said:

I think if he were on any other team in the NL , I'd hate his guts

If he was a Cardinal, I'd be comparing him to a war criminal

[Rob]

Alex Bregman and Seiya Suzuki rank 15th and 16th in baseball for position player fWAR, with 4.2 each.

PCA has more than both of them combined.

But that's not the highest consecutive fWAR figures where he beats their combined figures. In fact, you have to get all the way up to the 5th and 6th ranked players -- Otto Lopez (4.8) and Elly de la Cruz (4.6) before their combined fWAR is greater than PCA's.

[ILMindState]

On 8/31/2026 at 11:40 AM, Rcal10 said:

I don’t get the hatred towards him. He is exactly the type of player most people today love. Some older baseball fans have issues with guys being flashy. I used to be that way, but I realize my demographic isn’t what baseball is playing to any longer, so I have come to accept it. But I do understand when an older guy thinks showboating is too much. But the game today is geared to younger viewers. Those viewers generally like that in a player. They like the player who can do everything. I am thinking of the guys in their 30’s and 40’s I feel that is what they like. Same with younger kids. So, in my mind, PCA should be loved by the modern baseball fan. He is flashy, and does everything well. I think he is misunderstood by a lot of fans who view him as cocky.
On a personal level I have met him twice and each time he has been very respectful. In fact, one time when I met him, the next day I saw him again at breakfast and he walked past my table and spoke to me. I found him to be a very nice person. 

I think a lot of it comes from how outspoken he is. Specifically when he was critical about the Dodgers and their fan base earlier this year. They have a huge and obnoxious fan base.

[Derwood]

PCA has been worth more WAR in the past 3 days than Vladdy Jr. has all season

[Tangled Up in Plaid]

28 minutes ago, Derwood said:

PCA has been worth more WAR in the past 3 days than Vladdy Jr. has all season

[Derwood]

11 minutes ago, Tangled Up in Plaid said:

 

Edited Tuesday at 10:20 PM by Derwood

[We Got The Whole 9]

I dont think he will get 40 steals but 10 war is coming very soon - by sheer defense he will achieve that- and he averages about 1.5 every 20 games so 11 is within reach. I want him to lead baseball in homers. 

Edited Friday at 01:56 PM by We Got The Whole 9

[bukie]

Craziest PCA stat of all, he's just 1 HR off the MLB lead now with 39.

[We Got The Whole 9]

He won the cat-and-mouse game last night. This is really awesome. 

 

 

[bukie]

With tonight's SB, PCA has the 38th 33-33 season in MLB history.

He has the 25th season with at least 39 HR and at least 33 SB.

[bukie]

PCA is up to 9.5 fWAR offensively.

The entire Colorado Rockies offense has been worth 8.3 fWAR offensively.

Edited Saturday at 03:16 AM by bukie

[bukie]

PCA also now leads MLB in runs scored with 105.

Edited Saturday at 03:17 AM by bukie

[17 Seconds]

after 2023 I was interested in trading PCA and keeping Bellinger long-term for center. what an idiot

[Rob]

3 hours ago, 17 Seconds said:

after 2023 I was interested in trading PCA and keeping Bellinger long-term for center. what an idiot

Not really.

Sure. If you have a true 80 grade defender, they only have to hit so much to be a solid big leaguer.

But -- and I think people are getting better about this -- we used to hear the term "80-grade defender" tossed around a lot more frequently. It was attached to guys like Albert Almora at various points. And most of those guys were never near the defender that PCA is.

When those guys came up and hit anemically, they weren't viable big leaguers. So they didn't get the playing time to make adjustments at the plate.

Long story short -- I think a lot of us got burned by guys with prospect profiles that looked a lot like PCA's. And if you're somebody thinking that those guys are basically lotto tickets like a lot of lower minors flamethrowers, then yeah -- it's tough to build around them. I understand the desire to move them.

But like I said -- I think people are getting better about only attaching 80 grades to guys that truly earn it. So I'm going to keep that in mind when thinking about player values moving forward.

[Stratos]

On 8/31/2026 at 12:40 PM, Rcal10 said:

I don’t get the hatred towards him. He is exactly the type of player most people today love. Some older baseball fans have issues with guys being flashy. I used to be that way, but I realize my demographic isn’t what baseball is playing to any longer, so I have come to accept it. But I do understand when an older guy thinks showboating is too much. But the game today is geared to younger viewers. Those viewers generally like that in a player. They like the player who can do everything. I am thinking of the guys in their 30’s and 40’s I feel that is what they like. Same with younger kids. So, in my mind, PCA should be loved by the modern baseball fan. He is flashy, and does everything well. I think he is misunderstood by a lot of fans who view him as cocky.
On a personal level I have met him twice and each time he has been very respectful. In fact, one time when I met him, the next day I saw him again at breakfast and he walked past my table and spoke to me. I found him to be a very nice person. 

I get why people don't like him.  The antics and swagger.  You can't take the Hollywood out of him.   But Non-Cubs fans don't see him everyday or how he treats teammates, media, fans etc.  He's a genuinely very nice person and does his best to cater to media and fans. 

[mk49]

Great players tend to get hated, so I can see the Pete's hatred.  Being a huge Charles Barkley fan in the 90's, I hated Jordan the most, knowing he's a great player.  The Pete's situation is basically the same.

It's actually pretty funny.  I've lived in California and Nevada, far away from Chicago.  I love the Cubs, and I hated the Bulls.😁

[Geographyhater8888]

On 8/31/2026 at 11:40 AM, Rcal10 said:

I don’t get the hatred towards him. He is exactly the type of player most people today love. Some older baseball fans have issues with guys being flashy. I used to be that way, but I realize my demographic isn’t what baseball is playing to any longer, so I have come to accept it. But I do understand when an older guy thinks showboating is too much. But the game today is geared to younger viewers. Those viewers generally like that in a player. They like the player who can do everything. I am thinking of the guys in their 30’s and 40’s I feel that is what they like. Same with younger kids. So, in my mind, PCA should be loved by the modern baseball fan. He is flashy, and does everything well. I think he is misunderstood by a lot of fans who view him as cocky.
On a personal level I have met him twice and each time he has been very respectful. In fact, one time when I met him, the next day I saw him again at breakfast and he walked past my table and spoke to me. I found him to be a very nice person. 

Dodger fans hate him, understandable because he attacked them directly, and of course we’re primary rivals of 3 separate teams which skews things a bit. 

Then of course you have people who think war is a fake stat because he misplayed a couple of hops which led to inside the park home runs and believe that his defensive metrics are fake and he’s overrated because of that. That’s a major talking point for rival fans. Now that he’s put in a full season of elite offense I think he’s finally getting the respect he’s earned. 

Some people feign outrage over bat flips and throwing his bat in frustration but who the horsefeathers cares. He plays for the Cubs so it’s a reflex to pretend that you’re angry about it as a rival fan. I don’t hate Mis because he’s good. 
 

Votto and Braun were the only rival players I disliked. 

Edited 6 hours ago by Geographyhater8888

[Geographyhater8888]

On 9/5/2026 at 3:20 PM, Rob said:

Not really.

Sure. If you have a true 80 grade defender, they only have to hit so much to be a solid big leaguer.

But -- and I think people are getting better about this -- we used to hear the term "80-grade defender" tossed around a lot more frequently. It was attached to guys like Albert Almora at various points. And most of those guys were never near the defender that PCA is.

When those guys came up and hit anemically, they weren't viable big leaguers. So they didn't get the playing time to make adjustments at the plate.

Long story short -- I think a lot of us got burned by guys with prospect profiles that looked a lot like PCA's. And if you're somebody thinking that those guys are basically lotto tickets like a lot of lower minors flamethrowers, then yeah -- it's tough to build around them. I understand the desire to move them.

But like I said -- I think people are getting better about only attaching 80 grades to guys that truly earn it. So I'm going to keep that in mind when thinking about player values moving forward.

Pretty much this. His prospect profile was predicated on his elite tools. How often does raw talent manifest into this? He’s kind of the Josh Allen of MLB players. 

Edited 6 hours ago by Geographyhater8888