How Pete Crow-Armstrong's 3-homer day, Shohei Ohtani injury could help Cubs star pull ahead in NL MVP race

While many MLB fans have assumed Shohei Ohtani would continue his reign as the perennial NL MVP in 2026, Chicago Cubs outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong is making quite the case for his name to be at the forefront of that race.

Along with having the franchise's highest fielding wins above replacement (fWAR) since Sammy Sosa, per Just Baseball, Crow-Armstrong now has the fourth-most home runs (36), seventh-most RBIs (89), and the most total bases (296) across all of MLB. His numbers were greatly bolstered by a 4-of-6 outing on Saturday that featured not one, not two, but three home runs in front of a home Wrigley Field crowd, as the Cubs dominated the Reds 17-5.

Crow-Armstrong has potentially made himself the NL MVP frontrunner with his superb numbers that seem to be added to every night — especially in the wake of an Ohtani injury update that also came Saturday.

Here's how the Cubs and Dodgers' stars stack up in the intriguing NL MVP race after each making news on Saturday.

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Pete Crow-Armstrong highlights vs. Cardinals

Crow-Armstrong, per usual, led things off for Chicago as the team's leadoff hitter on Saturday afternoon. After one pitch from Reds pitcher Andrew Abbott, the Cubs' outfielder decided leading off with fireworks was the correct play, as he smashed the second pitch he saw 435 feet to right-center and put his squad promptly up 1-0.

SCHEDULED TWEET AT THIS POINT. pic.twitter.com/87Y8hENYvz

— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) August 29, 2026

In the next inning, with Chicago already up 4-2, Crow-Armstrong continued having fun by blasting one down the right field line. While it was close to straying just foul, the Windy City kept the ball in play to give "PCA" his 35th home run of the year.

He stretched the Cubs' lead to 6-2 and had brought in half of his team's runs by himself to that point.

— The Sporting News (@sportingnews) August 29, 2026

To close out his day, the outfielder belted a 444-foot no-doubter to center field to put his team up by eight runs. Crow-Armstrong knew off the bat that it was a long shot, as seen by his emphatic bat flip. Check out the Cubs star's fourth, fifth, and sixth RBIs through this one swing:

THINGS PETE DOES WHEN WE'RE ALREADY OVERSTIMULATED: pic.twitter.com/5otGGSROCx

— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) August 29, 2026

Here's the complete stat line Crow-Armstrong put up en route to his team's 17-5 victory over Cincinnati:

— The Sporting News (@sportingnews) August 29, 2026

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Shohei Ohtani injury update

While Los Angeles was already stringent with how much Ohtani was allowed to pitch this season — despite his superb numbers on the bump — Dodgers manager Dave Roberts announced that the star's pitching appearance on Sunday was postponed, per Bob Nightengale.

The Dodgers announce that Shohei Ohtani’s return to the mound is now postponed. He had been scheduled to start Sunday

— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) August 29, 2026

"If any pitcher was feeling like this, we wouldn’t run him out there,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said, according to ESPN baseball reporter Alden Gonzalez.

The Dodgers have yet to shut Ohtani down in terms of pitching starts this season, but with the postseason drawing closer and closer, updates should come in the near future regarding whether or not the 32-year-old would continue his role as a dual-threat.

In the NL MVP race, it may be Ohtani's impact as a pitcher that can help him keep pace with Crow-Armstrong, who's been one of baseball's hottest hitters down the stretch of the regular season.

MORE: Full timeline of Ketel Marte's trouble with the Diamondbacks

Pete Crow-Armstrong vs. Shohei Ohtani 2026 stats

While many MLB fans are surely familiar with the stardom Ohtani possesses, the Cubs' outfielder is making his case to be in the same elite stratosphere this season.

Here is a side-by-side comparison of the two players' 2026 numbers, along with Ohtani's numbers from when he appears on the pitching mound.

Crow-Armstrong vs. Ohtani 2026 hitting stats

	AVG	HR	RBI	OPS	OBP
Pete Crow-Armstrong	.282	36	89	.944	.377
Shohei Ohtani	.283	30	80	.918	.383

Ohtani 2026 pitching stats

IP	85.2
Record	8-2
ERA	1.79
K's	136
WHIP	0.95

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Who was the Cubs' last MVP winner?

The last Cubs player to win an MVP trophy was Kris Bryant in 2016. Just one season after winning the NL's Rookie of the Year award, the third baseman/designated hitter continued making a name for himself through consistently stellar play both on the diamond and at the plate. He put up a stat line of a .292 batting average, 39 HRs, 102 RBIs and 121 runs.

Bryant became the sixth player in MLB history to win Rookie of the Year and MVP within his first two MLB seasons, with his company as Fred Lynn (both in 1975), Cal Ripken Jr. (1982–83), Ichiro Suzuki (both in 2001), Ryan Howard (2005–06), and Dustin Pedroia (2007–08). The Chicago star also won the 2016 Hank Aaron Award as the NL's best all-around hitter.

Now, Crow-Armstrong is in clear contention to join the list of Cubs MVP — if he can fend off Ohtani over the next month.