Pete Crow-Armstrong Is Making a Real MVP Case. His Cards Are Already Feeling It.
With a .932 OPS, 26 home runs, and Wrigley chanting 'MV-Pete,' Crow-Armstrong's 2026 season is the kind that reprices a player's entire cardboard footprint.
Crow-Armstrong was a known hobby name well before he became a household baseball name — drafted 19th overall in 2020, traded to the Cubs in the Javier Báez deal, and debuted in September 2023. Collectors who got in early on his Bowman prospects or 2023 rookie-year paper already have a position. The question now is what an actual MVP award does to that market. Bryant's 2016 win created a sustained premium on his certified autos and numbered parallels that lasted years. Crow-Armstrong's key cards — his 2020 Bowman Draft autos, his 2023 rookie-year Topps Chrome autos, and any low-numbered parallels from those sets — are the ones that move hardest when MVP odds tighten. A player in genuine award contention with two months of season left is exactly the window where graded copies of his best cards see the most attention, because collectors are pricing in a possibility rather than a certainty. If he wins, the market reprices again, and the window to buy at pre-award prices closes fast.
- Through 119 games in 2026, Crow-Armstrong has a .286 average, .388 OBP, .932 OPS, 26 HR, and 71 RBI.
- He is the first Cubs player in the NL MVP conversation since Kris Bryant won in 2016.
- Crow-Armstrong earned a Gold Glove and made his first All-Star Game in 2025, and joined the 30-30 club that season.
- He was drafted 19th overall by the Mets in 2020 and acquired by the Cubs in the Javier Báez trade at the 2021 deadline.
- He made his MLB debut on September 11, 2023, against the Colorado Rockies.
- Wrigley Field crowds have been chanting 'MV-Pete' during home games this season.
Through 119 games of the 2026 season, Pete Crow-Armstrong is posting a .286 average, .388 on-base percentage, .932 OPS, 26 home runs, and 71 RBIs for the Chicago Cubs. That puts him squarely in the National League MVP conversation — the first Cubs player to be there since Kris Bryant won the award a decade ago. Crow-Armstrong already earned a Gold Glove and made his first All-Star Game in 2025, and joined the 30-30 club that same season, so the 2026 power surge is not coming out of nowhere.
Which Pete Crow-Armstrong cards matter most right now?
His 2020 Bowman Draft prospect autos are the foundational pieces — those were printed when he was a Mets pick and carry the earliest certified signature. His 2023 Topps Chrome rookie-year autos are the other tier to watch, particularly low-numbered parallels. Both categories move when MVP odds shift.
Has a Cubs player won NL MVP recently?
Kris Bryant won it in 2016. Crow-Armstrong's 2026 push is the first time a Cubs player has been in serious contention since then.
When did Crow-Armstrong become a Cub?
He was traded from the Mets to the Cubs at the 2021 trade deadline as part of the package that sent Javier Báez and Trevor Williams to New York.