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Pete Crow-Armstrong may have surpassed Shohei Ohtani in the National League MVP race, but the Chicago Cubs standout made sure to honor the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar. On Thursday, Crow-Armstrong was revealed as the unanimous winner of the 2026 NL MVP award, with Ohtani finishing second after claiming the honor in each of the previous two seasons.
During an appearance on MLB Network following the announcement, the 24-year-old shared his thoughts on being mentioned alongside the two-way sensation. "Being mentioned in conversations with, you know, one of the best pitchers in the sport, but also one of the best hitters, a World Series champion, and arguably the biggest part of that," Crow-Armstrong said. "It's not like we're racing and going up against each other every day. But I think it's just the fact that I want to be better than I was the day before. And really, that's been all that I've needed to motivate myself with for really as long as I can remember."
That motivation was evident throughout the season. Crow-Armstrong appeared in all 162 games and paced the NL in home runs (45), OPS (.943), and WAR (9.8), while also stealing 41 bases to join the 40-40 club. The two-time MLB All-Star also expressed gratitude to those around him in the Cubs clubhouse, including manager Craig Counsell and teammates Alex Bregman and Nico Hoerner. "I've been lucky to be in really good clubhouses my first, you know, parts of four seasons up here," he said. "They give me patience and a lot of runway to be myself and succeed that way."
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Crow-Armstrong now joins an elite group of Cubs MVPs that includes Ernie Banks, Ryne Sandberg, Andre Dawson, Sammy Sosa, and Kris Bryant. He specifically acknowledged the late Sandberg, who supported him during his cancer battle. "He made himself available for a lot of us over the last few years through chemo and everything," Crow-Armstrong said. "He was hugely important to the last few years of my life." He also mentioned speaking with Bryant earlier in the day and added, "I'm happy to carry on their legacy."
Originally reported by yahoo.