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'Dansby’s World' & White Sox All-Star game locks | Chicago Sports Tonight
This week on Chicago Sports Tonight, ESPN’s Jesse Rogers joins Fox Chicago's Cassie Carlson and Sam Panayotovich to break down the Cubs' massive sweep over the Padres and Dansby Swanson's historic hot streak. Plus, they discuss Miguel Vargas’s potential AL MVP case, Chris Getz’s aggressive trade deadline plans, and White Sox All-Star locks!
As a baseball player, Cubs star Pete Crow-Armstrong has had a year already.
He's signed an extension that cements him as one of the best players in the Cubs' organization. He's cemented himself as the team's lead-off hitter. He was just named the National League Player of the Month.
On Saturday, he was named to his second MLB All-Star Game. With it comes something he won't take for granted.
Big picture view:
Crow-Armstrong knows what it's like to be an All-Star. He started in the 2025 MLB All-Star Game and got to pick the brains of the other All-Stars and meet stars like Kyle Schwarber.
This year is different.
Crow-Armstrong will get a chance to talk shop with some players, like Miami's Otto Lopez. He wants to know how in the world Lopez is batting .337 this season.
Crow-Armstrong will also be the lone Cubs' representative. He noticed it when Craig Counsell announced he was the team's All-Star before the game,
"I wish that part was more like last year, and we had a couple more guys to enjoy that with," Crow-Armstrong said. "It was nice. Short and sweet."
However, that doesn't make it any less special for Crow-Armstrong. After Saturday's game, he spoke about why the 2026 nod was different than the 2025 All-Star nod.
While the fans vote for the starters, MLB players vote on who gets the remaining reserve and pitcher sports. That mutual respect means the world to Crow-Armstrong.
"It's nice to get the nod from the baseball world," he said. "Having the fan vote get me in last year was obviously special."
It's easy to see how Crow-Armstrong earned that respect, especially in June.
Crow-Armstrong hit 11 home runs, two triples, five doubles, stole eight bases, recorded 20 RBIs and scored 21 runs in June alone. So far in 2026, he has a .287 batting average, 19 home runs, 49 RBI and 96 hits.
"When it's internal like this, knowing how hard this game is and how hard guys are working on a daily basis, I think that means a lot to me," Crow-Armstrong said.
What they're saying:
Crow-Armstrong also has the respect of his teammates.
There weren't many happier to see PCA earn some respect than the rest of the players in the Cubs' clubhouse on Saturday.
"He's the type of player – when you have him behind you as a pitcher – he's such a good fielder he's going to make you metrics better," Cubs pitcher Shota Imanaga said through an interpreter. "That's for all the pitchers on our staff."
That respect has spread league-wide for Crow-Armstrong.
That's one of the biggest honors he gets from his second All-Star nod in a row.
"I want their respect as much as I want to go out and beat everybody," Crow-Armstrong said. "The flip side of that is the best compliment you can get as a baseball player."