Chicago Cubs: These 2 young stars may be on the verge of going nuclear

The Chicago Cubs offense has suddenly and abruptly gone ice cold. Over the last three games, they’ve scored just two runs and registered only eight hits.

More News: Chicago Cubs: Two realistic — but very unsexy — pitching trade targets

Of course, these things happen with teams. Offenses go through slumps and dry spells and this recent 0-3 run is only extraordinary when comparing it to the way the Cubs’ bats were cooking as recently as last Friday.

But there are some signs of a turnaround, specifically with two of the team’s most important young bats—Pete Crow-Armstrong and Moises Ballesteros.

Ballesteros coming alive?

More News: Chicago Cubs’ series versus Braves will show just how good they really are

In Tuesday’s game against the MLB-best Atlanta Braves, the 22-year-old Ballesteros crushed the ball for two outs of his 0-for-3 evening.

Evan Altman of Cubs Insider talks about the DH’s two hard-hit outs:

“The Cubs then drew three straight walks to load the bases for Moises Ballesteros, whose 107.1 mph exit velocity was the second-hardest of the game. The only problem is that it had a -1 degree launch angle and went to shortstop Ha-Seong Kim for an RBI forceout that limited the Cubs’ ability to keep adding on. If he produces that same contact 100 times, he’d end up with 48 hits…

Two innings earlier, Mo Baller hammered a liner that ate up Ozzie Albies for a moment before the second baseman gathered the ball and threw to first. At 105.8 mph and 9 degrees, it had a .760 xBA.”

Through this rough extended slump for the rookie, he’s not looked hopeless and helpless at the plate, despite what his .067 batting average and .314 OPS in the month of May may otherwise indicate.

This recent trend of getting good contact will lead to big results, eventually.

PCA is due for big things

Meanwhile, Crow-Armstrong’s offensive turnaround is still more theoretical than rooted in cold, hard fact, but metrics are screaming that a change will come.

Tony Andracki of Bleacher Nation noted this in a recent piece chronicling the weight training changes inspired in PCA by Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams:

“And he’s seen a pretty significant jump in bat speed, up to 74.3 mph this season compared to 72.7 mph last year.

Crow-Armstrong’s bat speed ranks 54th in MLB, ahead of superstar sluggers like Gunnar Henderson, Pete Alonso and Bryce Harper.

His average exit velocity is up this year as a result: 91.8 mph compared to 89.5 mph last year.”

The 24-year-old is still hovering around the .240 mark and has been limited to just 4 home runs so far this season, but up until this recent 3-game skid, he had been making more contact for actual hits. Overall, his increased bat speed and subsequent boost in exit velocity should offer a real reason to believe that his power game will get elevated soon enough.

The Cubs will definitely need the bats of Ballesteros and Crow-Armstrong to start pulling their weight if the goal is a deep postseason run. Given the current dire state of their banged up pitching staff, Chicago will absolutely need to start putting more runs on the board.

The post Chicago Cubs: These 2 young stars may be on the verge of going nuclear appeared first on ChiCitySports.

Source: https://www.chicitysports.com/chicago-cubs-pete-crow-armstrong-moises-ballesteros-ending-slump/