With 28 games remaining in the regular season, the Chicago Cubs sit 5.5 games behind the Atlanta Braves for the third wild-card spot.
They remain in the race partially due to the play of rookie center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong and veteran catcher Miguel Amaya, the bottom two hitters in the order.
Both struggled mightily in the first half, but each has rebounded with solid play since the All-Star break.
In early July, Amaya was slumping so severely that manager Craig Counsell gave him three straight days to "brainstorm and figure out some things," per Jordan Bastian of MLB.com. In May, the Cubs demoted Crow-Armstrong to Triple-A for a short stint.
Since their wake-up calls, the duo are among Chicago's best position players. Crow-Armstrong (.329) and Amaya (.339) are the team leaders in batting average in August.
Crow-Armstrong's ability to reduce his strikeout rate has been a huge key. A change in his batting approach for Amaya, dropping a leg kick and going to a toe tap, has helped tremendously.
On Wednesday, Crow-Armstrong had his first four-hit game of his major league career as the Cubs rallied from down 10-3 to win 14-10 over the dreadful Pittsburgh Pirates. Per OptaSTATS, he set a major league record for a rookie in the three-game sweep of Pittsburgh.
Amaya's re-emergence as an everyday catcher has worked wonders. Having someone at the bottom of the lineup who can roll the order over is essential.
Since the All-Star break, Chicago is 20-15 and 68-66 overall, the first time they have clawed back to over .500 since the middle of May.
To make the postseason for the first time since 2020, the Cubs must play exceptionally well over their remaining games and get help from other teams.
Chicago might sneak into the playoffs if they continue to get strong play from Amaya and Crow-Armstrong.
