Pete Crow-Armstrong’s 2026 Cubs Season in Yearbook Superlatives
The Cubs center fielder won awards for his bat, his glove and his season as a whole. The yearbook treatment makes room for the kid in the cap and gown, too.
The best caption on the Pete Crow-Armstrong collage might be “Most Likely to Need a Bigger Trophy Case.” The joke works because, by the time the writers named him the 2026 National League MVP, the trophy case was already getting crowded. Crow-Armstrong had his second straight Gold Glove, his first Platinum Glove, the NL Hank Aaron Award and a spot on the All-MLB First Team. The MVP came with all 30 first-place votes, making him the first unanimous winner in Cubs history. Official BBWAA ballot and MLB Awards Show recap.
That’s why the yearbook format tells a different story from the “MVPete” chant or the unanimous ballot. One line can announce the winner. Nine little boxes let you remember different versions of the same player. There’s a graduation cap, a baseball cap, a batting helmet and a crown drawn over the final portrait. Some captions are jokes. One prediction, “Most Likely to Win MVP,” had an official answer by November 12.
That combination makes the collage feel at home in the Chicago Cubs collection. It looks like a page assembled by someone who kept the old photos and still rewatches the catches.
- Most Likely to Steal the Show
- 45 home runs and 41 steals, the first 40–40 season by a Cub.
- Most Likely to Need a Bigger Trophy Case
- Gold Glove, Platinum Glove, Hank Aaron Award and All-MLB First Team honors.
- Most Likely to Win MVP
- 30 first-place votes for Chicago’s first unanimous NL MVP.
What the highlight reel would leave out
Crow-Armstrong’s first 40–40 season in Cubs history gives “Most Likely to Steal the Show” an obvious double meaning. But his plate discipline tells a story you’re less likely to see in a highlight package. MLB reported that his walk rate rose to 11.4 percent, up 6.9 percentage points from 2025. The highlight clip shows what happened after he found a pitch he liked. The walks help explain how much better he got at deciding which pitches to leave alone. MLB’s Hank Aaron Award analysis.
The glove makes the other half of that caption work. He led the majors with +26 Outs Above Average, a Statcast measure of the outs a fielder makes beyond expectation. The Gold Glove recognized his work at center field. The Platinum Glove recognized him across positions in the National League. Those are distinct honors, and the collage’s “bigger trophy case” joke lands because his bat didn’t have to make up for his glove, or the other way around. MLB’s Platinum Glove coverage.
“It’s funny that everyone seems to be talking about the offense.” Pete Crow-Armstrong, in MLB’s MVP coverage
Why the yearbook uses photos from before the Cubs
The graduation portrait and youth-baseball looks are what keep the grid from turning into a season stat sheet. Crow-Armstrong graduated from Harvard-Westlake in Los Angeles, played for USA Baseball’s youth national teams and was drafted by the Mets in 2020 before joining the Cubs organization in 2021. The artwork doesn’t label every photo with a year or a team, so the portraits aren’t a strict chronology. They work the way a yearbook does: familiar faces, slightly embarrassing old pictures and captions written with hindsight. MLB’s player biography.
The cutout-style “2026 Superlatives” heading, handwritten hearts, trophy doodle and yellow crown give the white print the feel of a page friends have already marked up. “Most Likely to Be Someone’s First Jersey” sits beside more obvious baseball references. That’s the line an awards recap can’t supply. It asks what a season looks like to someone who is just finding a favorite player.
The unanimous vote is the last caption, not the whole page. Find more Pete Crow-Armstrong designs or browse the MLB collection for other ways a season makes it into fan memory.
Pete Crow-Armstrong’s 2026 Superlatives FAQ
What awards did Pete Crow-Armstrong win in 2026?
He won the NL MVP unanimously, earned a Gold Glove and the NL Platinum Glove, won the NL Hank Aaron Award and was named to the All-MLB First Team.
What does “Most Likely to Steal the Show” reference?
It is a yearbook-style pun on Crow-Armstrong’s baserunning. He hit 45 home runs and stole 41 bases in the first 40–40 season by a Cub.
Are the captions on the 2026 Superlatives design official MLB awards?
No. The captions are playful yearbook labels. Some point to real achievements, including Crow-Armstrong’s MVP award and his 40–40 season.
Nine yearbook portraits and handwritten doodles turn Pete Crow-Armstrong’s 40–40 season, Platinum Glove and unanimous NL MVP into a Cubs class-of-2026 page.