BALTIMORE — Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong had a June for the ages.
His next trick? Well, it’s not slowing down.
Crow-Armstrong is off to the races in July, starting the month 8-for-17 in five games, including two hits and an RBI in the Cubs’ 5-2 victory Tuesday against the Orioles.
After batting .381 last month, he’s off to a .471 beginning to this month.
Yeah, yeah, small sample size. Still, the guy’s on fire.
‘‘Obviously,’’ Cubs president Jed Hoyer said toward the end of June, ‘‘he’s not going to play like this the whole season.’’
Are we sure about that?
Crow-Armstrong’s teammates are still marveling, awestruck by the transformation the 24-year-old has made. He reached base at a .287 clip and walked only 29 times in 157 games last season. He has a .383 on-base percentage and has walked 41 times in his first 91 games this season.
‘‘The most impressive thing is the plate discipline and the walks,’’ outfielder Ian Happ said. ‘‘For him to get to this point this quickly and really, in a matter of a week or two, kind of change the way that he approaches at-bats and the patience, the ability to lay off some really tough pitches . . . that’s been the most impressive thing to watch. [It’s] just the consistency of the quality of at-bats.
‘‘There’s always been thump there. There’s always been unbelievable tools and the speed and the defense. What he did last year was so special. But . . . to watch the way that he’s walking, it makes him so lethal because he’s such a good baserunner.’’
And there’s a whole lot of career left for Crow-Armstrong, a long-term franchise cornerstone, thanks to the contract extension he signed before the season that runs through 2032.
Isn’t it worth wondering whether the the newly minted two-time All-Star can reach even greater heights? Or, given that his month of June put him in the same club as Babe Ruth, is that asking too much?
‘‘If you bottled this player that he is right this second and gave him 15 more years of that, it’d be pretty special,’’ Happ said. ‘‘There’s always room to get better at things, but this version of him in the last month is pretty spectacular.’’
Boyd, Bregman best Birds
Left-hander Matthew Boyd and third baseman Alex Bregman helped the Cubs to their victory against the Orioles.
Boyd, who could help buoy the Cubs’ banged-up pitching staf, was stellar in six scoreless innings, looking like his normal self after a couple of starts coming off the injured list.
‘‘He was amazing,’’ catcher Miguel Amaya said. ‘‘He was dialed in from Pitch 1. He dominated the zone, and the other team, they had no chance against him.’’
Meanwhile, Bregman, a player with a big contract and a big bat that’s starting to emerge, had two hits and two RBI.
Momentum — just in time for the All-Star break.
‘‘I was talking to [Orioles slugger Pete] Alonso about that at first base,’’ Bregman said with a chuckle. ‘‘He was like, ‘You feeling better?’ I was like, ‘Yeah.’ He was like, ‘Yeah, and in five days, you get the All-Star break.’ I was like, ‘Perfect.’ ’’
Time for Taillon?
Right-hander Jameson Taillon still might return from the injured list before the All-Star break, but the Cubs hope they don’t have to bring him back that quickly.
Manager Craig Counsell said the team is planning for Taillon to follow his minor-league rehab start Sunday with another. But should a need arise during the Cubs’ road trip, they could bring Taillon back sooner for what Counsell called a ‘‘limited’’ outing.
