NL WILD CARD SERIES: CUBS VS PADRES

September 28, 2026

Pete Crow-Armstrong

Petco Park

Chicago Cubs

Workout Day Press Conference

Q. (Regarding Alex Bregman.)

PETE CROW-ARMSTRONG: (In progress.) ...his work and how much he loves the game. Not really surprising. Not to put a damper on how cool it is that he is coming back after eight facial fractures and what not. I'm just not that surprised. He lives for this kind of baseball.

Yeah, most importantly, glad he's healthy enough to do what he loves, but in turn, selfishly, I'm pumped that he's going to be in our lineup for these important games.

I mean, simply put, it's just Alex Bregman makes our lineup better, so it's huge that he is getting himself game-ready.

Q. After getting your first taste of the postseason last year, just what, if anything, do you take away from that experience that you feel maybe helps you going into this series?

PETE CROW-ARMSTRONG: Nothing really other than I've just done it before. I think I've got some more to prove and I've got some more production to give this club, but it's a new year. I guess it's a relatively similar team and bullpen and all that, but it's the same game, but new baseball to be played.

Yeah, I mean, I think I'm fortunate and lucky to have a year of this under my belt already. I mean, it's exciting to do it in a new place. Like this place is super fun to play in in the regular season, and it's rocking and it's a party. I'm just looking forward to year two of playoff baseball.

Q. Pete, when you were here in late April, you hit a couple of homers and looked like you were starting to come out of that early-season funk. How much pride do you take in how you were able to fight through that early first month, six weeks, and end up making the changes you did and having the season you had?

PETE CROW-ARMSTRONG: Yeah, it could have been easy to let the year get away from me, but day in and day out I think there was just a reminder -- a regular reminder that it's a long season. You know, when you're in April and April, May, and you have already played two weeks to a month's worth of games, you know, it feels like it's a long time has passed, but at the same time, you look up at how many games you have left, and that was kind of my daily reminder that I had a lot of time to turn it around.

I mean, I think we were playing really good baseball as a team at that point as well, so kind of easy to show up and get ready to try and improve and help the team whether they don't need much of it to start with. I mean, I'm proud of the year that I had in the regular season, and I'm proud that I could, you know, just help us get to a position like this and be able to have new life in October.

Q. Pete, kind of scouting the Padres in the second half so far, how different do they look and feel just from what you have observed so far?

PETE CROW-ARMSTRONG: Scouting the Padres in the second half?

Q. Yeah.

PETE CROW-ARMSTRONG: I haven't really done that. Focused on our brand of baseball and what we do every day. You know, when you're getting ready to play them in a three-game set during the regular season, I don't know how different it will be now. I mean, it's no surprise -- well, it's no secret how well Tatis is playing right now and the kind of year he put together after there was a lot of kind of similar conversation about the slow start that he may have had.

But you know, you're going up against a team that has a few of the best players in the world. Definitely a few future Hall of Famers.

I think we probably share a lot of the same qualities in that we have a lot of experience. You know, I'm really just focusing on who I'm facing starting the game tomorrow, and that preparation doesn't change based on the type of game or anything like that.

I think October is pretty cool because anything can happen. There's elements of you don't want to treat it like anything bigger than it is, but you also want to appreciate how cool and special this is.

So I would just say that I'm looking forward to playing a really good ball club and, you know, getting another crack at them and starting this playoffs off on a high note.

Q. Pete, you got off to such a great start last year. You know, you kind of tailed off. What changed in 2026 for you from an offensive standpoint, but also a mental standpoint that allowed you to do it a whole season?

PETE CROW-ARMSTRONG: Yeah, I mean, there's the element of just natural growth as a person and as a baseball player. You know, just simply having -- it's like the whole playoff thing. I have another year under my belt to reference and look at.

You know, I didn't really have much to fall back on when I was struggling last year, and I felt like I had to swing my way out of it and all this stuff.

So I would say, like, what contributed to making myself a consistent quality at-bat and all that stuff is just, like, getting to know the strike zone just that much better. I definitely missed less pitches in the zone, in the heart of the zone, that I should be hitting this year, and I felt like I took a little bit of the luck element out of my success at the plate from last year where, like, I was hitting a lot more bad balls out, slugging bad balls.

This year I think, you know, I ended up striking out more than I did last year with more plate appearances, but just the quality of at-bat and the pitches I was swinging at I think contribute to do more success when I did swing the bat.

But I had a lot of help and hand-holding and all that, and Bregy was huge in just learning how to approach an at-bat differently. John Maley was important as well in my everyday work, and I just ended up doing less physical stuff this year and really not more of anything.

Less work on the swing and all that stuff and more work on what my plan is.

Q. How do you feel you're different now as opposed to the postseason last year and whether that is because of results or just the experience, the growth, all of that, and the fact that now you get to have that first at-bat?

PETE CROW-ARMSTRONG: How do I feel like I'm different --

Q. Whether it be, like, the baseball side of it, maybe results play into it. Maybe they don't, but just how you feel you're different now that you have a whole year and have had the year you've had, and maybe it's just about the person, whatever it is in that regard?

PETE CROW-ARMSTRONG: Yeah, the natural development of me as a baseball player and of me as a person just kind of makes me excited to experience this again. You know, I'm on a new team, and there's stuff to look forward to with that as well.

I'm not sure I know how to answer that. I mean, I just -- I'm better for every out that I've made over the last year from the last Wild Card and the DS until now, so I'm not really looking to take any momentum or lack thereof from the regular season into this. Like, I treat this as clean slate and just more baseball to play.

Q. Pete, I know you've talked about your personal relationship with Craig Counsell. I was curious more about how he's kind of held this team together, like, strategically, tactically, and how he'll go about it this October just given all the injuries and uncertainty that you guys have had to deal with? It seems like he's had a steady hand and kind of held things together. What are your perceptions of how he's done his job in that regard?

PETE CROW-ARMSTRONG: He's had a lot to deal with obviously, starting from a pretty early point in the year. But I mean, I think what's kind of cool to continue to learn about relationships in this game is -- and for just my outside looking in perspective on, like, a manager's job is how many different kind of skills you have to have. That's not necessarily making decisions in the game or anything like that. It's about continuing to get to know people, continuing to, you know, build trust.

And what I think I appreciate the most about what Counsell did is he was running guys out there with so much confidence. Whether they had a bad outing the night before or whether they were rolling, he was putting guys in spots that they may not have had been in before, you know, but he's a steady guy.

So I think the other thing that I appreciate about him and how he kind of handles this ball club is it's very player-driven. Like, we have the freedom to kind of interact and have a real voice and make decisions for the betterment of the whole ball club. I think that's pretty cool.

I mean, he's obviously battle-tested, and he's had so much different experience through the game of baseball as a player and a manager. I think we all just trust him, and I think that definitely seeps into how we trust each other. But no, I think it's just a pretty free place to play, you know?

He drives the ship, and I think we all are able to feel like we have a hand on the wheel as well, so...

Q. Pete, you'll face another really great young center fielder in Jackson Merrill in this series. Wondering your impressions of Jackson, watching him from afar?

PETE CROW-ARMSTRONG: Yeah, I mean, I'm a huge fan of him. That's like one of those kind of relationships you build in baseball in passing, and I've really come to enjoy my time around him, whether that's in the offseason or, you know, in the outfield before a game.

I think what I'm most impressed by and what I kind of appreciate about him the most is that he has become a premier center fielder defensively after having, like, little to no experience from my understanding playing that position throughout the Minor Leagues and all that.

So, I mean, anybody that's able to get thrown into a position in Spring Training, right, like it was a few springs ago that he got put in center. He just ended up displaying how much of an athlete he is. He's just an electric, dynamic force, so I'm a big fan of his. I think he knows that, but yeah, I love getting to compete against him and share the field with him really.

I mean, he's good people. So I look forward to going up against him, for sure.