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A month ago, you couldn't say a negative word about Pete Crow-Armstrong to Fantasy Baseball players. He was the breakout star of the 2025 season, a burgeoning superstar who shrugged off an iffy rookie season to become one of the best players in Fantasy. 

On the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast, we didn't rank Crow-Armstrong as a first-rounder for the second half of the season, and we got a lot of criticism for it. And one comment in particular stood out to me: "You refuse to acknowledge when you are wrong. You can't just keep saying 'the season isn't over.'"

But, here's the thing: The season wasn't over. 

Crow-Armstrong was incredible in the first half of the season, but he wasn't a perfect player, obviously. His top-tier athleticism was manifesting itself in impressive ways as a hitter, baserunner, and defensive player, and he was seeming to take a big step forward with his quality of contact. But his approach has remained a mess throughout. But he still had one of the worst approaches at the plate of any hitter, ranking in the first percentile in chase rate, a pretty major red flag when we're talking about a guy who is supposed to be among the best players in baseball.

And, as it turns out, it might have been a red flag we needed to pay attention to. Because, a month out from the All-Star break, Crow-Armstrong is stuck in one of the deepest slumps of his career. Crow-Armstrong is hitting .205/.239/.398 in the second half, and he's been even worse in August, sporting a .193 OPS – that is, On-base Plus Slugging percentage. That's bad. He has struck out in 36% of his trips to the plate, and his expected wOBA in that stretch is down to .250.

This could just be a normal slump, of course, and I wouldn't want to overreact to a bad month – how could I criticize others for overreacting only to do the same thing? 

But we do have to acknowledge something that happened Thursday: With top prospect Owen Caissie called up for his MLB debut, Crow-Armstrong was actually out of the lineup. It's just one game, and Crow-Armstrong had only sat out two games since the break, so, again, there's no need to overreact here. But if Caissie is going to stick around, the Cubs are going to have an awfully crowded outfield – between Crow-Armstrong, Ian Happ, Kyle Tucker, and Willi Castro, they already have four starting-caliber outfielders, and that's not even including DH Seiya Suzuki. If Caissie sticks around, Crow-Armstrong could find himself dealing with some extra days off, especially if he continues to struggle.

Now, Crow-Armstrong's defense should be enough to keep him in the lineup all of the time. He's arguably the best defensive center fielder in baseball, and he put up nearly a 3-WAR season in 123 games in 2024 despite being a well below-average hitter. But he notably wasn't an everyday player in 2024, and with the Cubs' offensive shuffling lately, they might simply decide they need to prioritize getting their best bats in the lineup. 

And, against left-handed pitchers, at least, that may not actually include Crow-Armstrong, who is hitting just .190/.219/.408 against southpaws this season. The Cubs are still very likely to make the playoffs, but they aren't necessarily guaranteed – they are five games up on the Reds with four games left against them. They're probably going to make the playoffs, but with the Brewers running away with the NL Central (eight games up now), their margin for error isn't as wide as they'd probably like.

So, I could see Crow-Armstrong slipping into something less than a full-time role for the next month and a half. Crow-Armstrong should still get the bulk of the opportunities, but if he's in a platoon, Crow-Armstrong could lose around 25% of his plate appearances the rest of the way. And in points leagues, with his very poor plate discipline, that could actually make him a pretty fringe-y option despite how good he's been to this point. His baserunning and pull-side power should keep him relevant in Roto leagues, but it would be extremely hard for him to be anywhere near as valuable as he was in the first half; that's for sure.

There's no guarantee that will happen. It's purely conjecture at this point. But, where Crow-Armstrong looked like one of the best players in Fantasy in the first half, he's suddenly looking kind of risky for the rest of the season. Maybe he pulls out of this slump and goes back to making the experts look bad. He spent three and a half months doing exactly that, though he was doing that in spite of his flaws, and the league just may have caught up with him. 

One thing's for sure: There might not be a player with more at stake for his 2026 Fantasy outlook than Crow-Armstrong. He's three homers away from a 30-30 season, so there's only so far his value could fall. But he was looking like at least a top 25 pick through the first half of the season, but if this slump continues and he does start losing playing time against lefties, he's going to have to slide down prospective draft boards. He'll probably still need to be a top 50 pick, but he could look like an awfully risky one if he spends the second half flirting with the Mendoza line while being treated like a platoon bat. Suddenly, that first half feels like a long time ago. 

Here's what else you need to know about from Thursday's action around MLB: 

A couple of waiver-wire targets

Dylan Crews, OF, Nationals (68%) – Crews made his return from an oblique injury Thursday, and despite missing nearly three months and sporting just a .620 OPS for the season, the Nationals had him hitting second against Jesus Luzardo. Now, that was likely at least in part because CJ Abrams was out of the lineup, but I wouldn't be shocked if the Nationals kept him in the top half of the lineup to maximize the young, former top prospect's opportunities to turn it around. He went 1 for 3 with a walk and a steal, his 12th of the season and 24 in 77 career games. The speed is real (95th percentile sprint speed), and the underlying numbers suggest he should be at least an average hitter; put that together, and we could have a really impactful player for Fantasy. It's been a rough ride, but I still believe.

Brenton Doyle, OF, Rockies (46%) – Judging by his roster rate, Doyle was largely dismissed after a rough first half, and given his limited track record of success, it's hard to argue too much with that. But he still has Coors Field as his home ballpark and is still a pretty talented hitter, as he's showing lately. Doyle is hitting .393 with four homers, two steals, and a 1.029 OPS in the second half after his 2-for-4-with-a-homer game Friday, a nice sign of life. He has sat out three of the past 11 games, but I do wonder if that'll change as he remains hot. He probably doesn't matter in points leagues, but I do still think Doyle should be pretty useful for Roto leagues down the stretch. 

Jordan Lawlar, SS, Diamondbacks (34%) – Lawlar was activated from the IL at Triple-A after missing the past few weeks with a hamstring injury. We'll see how many games he plays down there before the Diamondbacks call him up, but I'd guess we will see him soon, as they keep their eye on developing for the 2026 season. In case you've forgotten, Lawlar is still just 23 and is a career .334/.420/.590 hitter with 17 homers and 22 steals in 81 career games at Triple-A. And he'll have 2B eligibility and could gain 3B shortly after he is called up, depending on where the D-Backs opt to play him.