Anatomy of an At-Bat: Pete Crow-Armstrong Defies Logic and Bunts with Two Strikes

I have a confession to make: I can be a fairly judgmental person at times. This shows itself in all of the things I dislike, and I have a tendency to dislike a lot of things. For starters, I think bananas, both texturally and flavor wise are fairly disgusting—I think we're better off without them in our world. My dislikes don't stop there; I think the word "moist" should be outlawed, I hate when things rub against my neck (such as a lanyard), and of all of the colors, I'm not a fan of purple. However, I merely dislike those things; they do not keep me up at night, and they have no power to ruin my day.

One thing I truly loathe and despise, though, is bunting. There is something about the thought of giving up an out in a game in which you literally control the "game clock" so to speak (the 27 outs in baseball function much like a clock in other sports, as when your outs are up, the game ends) that drives me up a wall. There are some special use cases where I understand the logic, but outside of them, bunting brings me closer to a full body convulsion than anything on this planet. And yet I'm here to tell you what Pete Crow-Armstrong did with two strikes against the Braves was risky but artful. It was a good call and showed true wisdom by the Cubs' second-year star.

Let's set the stage. It's Labor Day and the Cubs and the Braves are in the sixth inning. The Cubs offense is once again sputtering, down 6-2 as much-maligned Braves' starting pitcher Spencer Strider has managed to hold the Cubs mostly listless despite just a single strikeout on his day. Currently, another Braves' pitcher, 28-year-old Hunter Stratton is on the mound. Nico Hoerner, the Cubs' second baseman, stands at first after hitting into a fielders choice which erased Ian Happ, who led off the inning with a single. The Cubs have two outs now in the inning. This is a scene the Cubs have seen far too often recently: a leadoff runner wasted. Attempting to change this seemingly set-in-stone fate is the Cubs' center fielder, Pete Crow-Armstrong. 

Crow-Armstrong has been in serious rut to this point. With just one hit in his previous 20 plate appearances and a wRC+ of 47 since July 25, things have been a struggle for the Cubs' young star. Over this span, the center fielder has seen his barrel rate drop to 5.2% and his hard hit rate to 35.4%. He has been more discerning at the plate, with his chase rate dropping and his contact rate increasing, but things still haven't been easy, and he's still not a "patient" hitter by any means. Put another way: he's pressing and you can see it.

The news of Crow-Armstrong's struggles are likely not lost on Hunter Stratton. The Cubs' hitter swings at 14% of first pitches and his chase rate remains high, even if it's better. Stratton also knows his best pitch is his slider, which has graded out exceptionally well based on FanGraphs Stuff+ model on the season. He also knows that his adversary is one to chase breaking balls down and off the plate, as highlighted in his swing decisions above. This decision is truly elementary, and the Braves' reliever understands the assignment perfectly as he throws a slider, his best pitch, below the zone. Naturally, Crow-Armstrong chases it for strike one. I also want to give credit to Stratton here as this wasn't as simple as just throw a slider—he throws a pretty excellent one in his own right. 

Now in the driver's seat, the right-handed pitcher has to make a decision. Does he try the slider again, or does he go to the fastball? The Cubs' hitter has already expanded the zone once on the breaking pitch, so the decision is pretty easy—go right back with it. Braves catcher Drake Baldwin sets up inside, looking for a slider that breaks down-and-in on the Cubs' lefty. Using the hex-code swing chart from above, this is a good place to go; Crow-Armstrong loves to swing and miss at pitches in this exact spot. Stratton misses his spot badly, but in a "it's so bad, it's good" kind of way, as he hangs the crap out of the pitch, but it's location and spot confuses the hitter enough that he can't even consider offering at it. Strike two. 

Pete Crow-Armstrong is now in a tough spot in this plate appearance, one largely of his own doing. Major league hitters, when faced with an 0-2 count, strike out nearly 50% of the time. They have a .167 batting average and a .173 wOBA. For his part, the Cubs' hitter has been slightly better than league average in these spots, striking out a little under 47% of the time and with a .239 wOBA, but this is not an advantageous situation. Stratton has a slick slide-piece, a pitch PCA is prone to whiffing on (with a 34.3% whiff rate, it is his highest against any specific pitch type). On top of that, he's just not hitting the ball well over his last few games or in the larger sample of his last month. This is set up for a textbook strikeout, which the Cubs can ill-afford as they attempt to get back into the game.

Facing a situation in which striking out becomes highly possible, the struggling hitter goes into his bag of tricks to try to change his outcome. One of his best skills is his speed, possessing a sprint speed in the 97th percentile league-wide. Crow-Armstrong is aware that the Braves are utilizing a somewhat aggressive shift against him; he pulls the ball 51.8% of the time, and the Braves' third baseman is well off the line, nearing where the shortstop normally plays. Crow-Armstrong has made up his mind: he's going to lay one down. We can see this with how early he squares up; this is clearly something he chose to do pre-pitch. 

Stratton has just thrown back-to-back sliders. He could go to the well once more, try the low-and-inside slider that he attempted the pitch before. In fact, this is exactly what I would have called for—if you get the pitch off the plate, the worst-case scenario is going to be a foul ball or a 1-2 count. Maybe you're a little worried that you spike one and it gets past Baldwin, which would allow the baserunner to get into scoring position. But even that is mitigated because Baldwin ranks 18th (of 68 qualified catchers) in the league in blocking prowess. Perhaps due to this fear, or a concern that Crow-Armstrong may be sitting on his slider, or the chance that he doesn't feel good about the pitch after missing badly on the one prior, Stratton decides to go with his fastball. This is a fateful choice, as a slider down and away is not a pitch you want to be offering a bunt on. It would be something entirely out of the question if it were any other hitter at the plate, but the Cubs don't have anyone else at the plate; they have a struggling Pete Crow-Armstrong.

It's a textbook bunt. Crow-Armstrong offers a bit early to get himself in a good spot, ensuring that he gets the ball down on the ground. He correctly notices the defensive alignment, and audaciously drops down a bunt with two strikes, knowing darn well that a foul ball is an out. Most of the time, this would be a crazy thing to do, but after looking at the data, I think it was warranted and a pretty great idea considering the situation.

First off, Crow-Armstrong is in a nearly no-win situation. He's likely to strike out if he swings away; as almost half of MLB hitters have done in this 0-2 situation, and that's without factoring in the context of this at bat. Stratton has a great slider, and Crow-Armstrong is prone to whiffing on that pitch more than any other; fouling out on a bunt is no different than swinging-and-missing in this instance. Beyond that, if he can just get it down, he's got a really good chance to get on.

League-wide, on balls hit the opposite way to third base on similar exit velocities, hitters have a .587 batting average. Sure, he's fast, but with the third baseman being moved in what is considered to be a "strategic" shift, his speed isn't really needed here. He just has to get it down, and get it down he does. There is a ton of grass on that side of the field, so you don't need to be perfect. This helps to lessen the potential a ball rolls foul.

Even if it's an imperfect bunt, it would force Braves third baseman Nacho Alvarez away from first base on the throw. Alvarez is already a below-average thrower, with an arm strength that ranks him in the 38th percentile league-wide. He would need a near herculean effort to move from his position to get there, and then would have to make a very difficult throw to catch the speedy runner. It's not shocking when we add everything up that Crow-Armstrong was able to get on first in this situation; it's literally a perfect storm of pitch, defensive alignment, and hitter to make this happen.

Dansby Swanson, the Cubs' next hitter, would make sure that this decision by the Cubs' center fielder wasn't easily forgotten. Had Swanson struck out, this bunt single is one we probably forget about, grumbling about how the Cubs' offense struggles continued in the series opener against the Braves. We probably forget the heroics of new Cub, Aaron Civale and his three scoreless innings as well.

Instead, the Cubs' shortstop laced a double into left field, scoring Nico Hoerner and Pete Crow-Armstrong, which loudly announced to everyone still watching that "the comeback is on" by making it a two-run game. Carson Kelly would later play hero, with the game-tying home run and the game-winning hit, but it was their center fielder's audacity that allowed the Cubs' catcher to even be in that situation. It was his audacity that allowed Swanson and Civale to play roles as well. Without this bunt, none of this happens.

I say this as someone who said right up front that I hate bunting but... I love what PCA did here. After looking at the situation, I think what I truly hate is bunting when the purpose is to give yourself up as an out. Crow-Armstrong wasn't trying to do that; with two outs, his goal was always to extend the inning. He found himself in a bad place where he was a very likely strikeout victim given league data, his own weaknesses and the strengths of the opposing pitcher. To even the odds in his favor, he took a gamble, but it was one that I think was well thought out. The Cubs' youngster didn't play hero on Monday, as Carson Kelly managed to do that in the eighth and tenth innings on his own, but he used wisdom beyond his years and a dash of confidence to get himself out of a hole he dug himself into, which in turn allowed Kelly to put on his superman cape. So I ask you: how can you hate that?

What did you think of Pete Crow-Armstrong's bunt on Monday? Do you like his decision? Let us know in the comments below!