Cubs' Pete Crow-Armstrong's MVP race declared to be 'over' by ESPN analyst

The Chicago Cubs might not have won the NL Central this season, but they're en route to a Wild Card spot and will likely secure the top Wild Card spot for home field as well.

One of the main reasons why this season has been a success, despite the shaky pitching, is all about Pete Crow-Armstrong. He's broken out in a big way this season and is putting together an all-time year in the big leagues.

With only a few weeks to go, ESPN's Bradford Doolittle believes that PCA's MVP race is "over" this season. It's not over in that PCA has no chance, but that every other player in baseball isn't even close to Crow-Armstrong this year.

Pete Crow-Armstrong's MVP race is 'over' amid history-chasing season

"The 2026 NL MVP race is over, and now PCA is racing against history," Doolittle writes. Shohei Ohtani, Jacob Misiorowski, Elly De La Cruz, Cristopher Sanchez, and every other star player in the NL aren't remotely close to PCA.

Going by Doolittle's AXE metric, which is how he determines the awards races, PCA has a 165.3 AXE, well above Ohtani in second place at a 145.9 AXE in the NL MVP race.

Doolittle believes this MVP race is over, and even if PCA struck out in every at-bat he had for the rest of the season, there's no chance he won't be the NL MVP.

MORE: Cubs SP Shota Imanaga gets bad free agency news thanks to 92 mph issue

In 153 games this season, PCA has posted 9.6 bWAR with 115 runs scored, 167 hits, 29 doubles, eight triples, 44 home runs, 105 RBIs, 37 stolen bases, 78 walks, a .282 batting average, .581 slugging percentage, .956 OPS, and 159 OPS+.

Those are some incredible offensive numbers, and would likely be enough for him to win MVP on their own. But when adding in his league-best defense out in center field, there's going to be no denying PCA his 2026 NL MVP trophy once the year is over.

This race was more of a question in early August, but with Ohtani not pitching or hitting due to injury, no one can stop PCA from winning this award. As Doolittle noted, this MVP race is "over" already.

More MLB news:

• Tatsuya Imai predicted not to opt out of $36M Astros contract
• Phillies' Jesus Luzardo on track to be best road pitcher in MLB history since 1913
• Why Braves could trade Spencer Strider this upcoming offseason
• MLB insider accuses Shohei Ohtani of misleading Dodgers about injury issues
• Brewers' Jacob Misiorowski makes all kinds of MLB history with 1,000 pitches of 100 mph