CHICAGO — Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong received his second consecutive game off Wednesday, with manager Craig Counsell saying he wants to give him a “physical and mental” break amid his struggles in the second half of the season.
Crow-Armstrong, 23, sat out the team’s 5-1 loss to the Braves after coming off the bench to play defense late in Tuesday’s game. The Cubs are off Thursday, giving Crow-Armstrong a full three days between starts.
“We’re giving him a real break,” Counsell said before Wednesday’s series finale against the Braves. “Just to give him a physical and mental break, and then going into the last 3½ weeks of the season, hopefully a little bit refreshed.”
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Crow-Armstrong is hitting .212 with a .624 OPS since the All-Star break, but he has struggled even more over the past month, hitting .163 with only five extra-base hits and five walks to 29 strikeouts since Aug.1.
“I looked at this early in the [recent] road trip, thinking where could we get Pete a break,” Counsell said. “As the road trip continued, it became apparent that we should use this opportunity to give him a break.”
The last six games of the Cubs’ nine-game trip were played in spacious stadiums in San Francisco and Denver, where Crow-Armstrong covered a lot of ground in the outfield. He went 6-for-35 during the trip before getting Tuesday and Wednesday off.
“Hopefully it’s a reset for Pete,” Counsell said.
Super-utility player Willi Castro started in Crow-Armstrong’s place in center against the Braves on Wednesday, and regular designated hitter Seiya Suzuki started in right field in place of Kyle Tucker who left Tuesday’s game because of tightness in his left calf. Counsell said the team would have an update on Tucker’s status before Friday’s game against the Washington Nationals.
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