‘We Get to Do This’: Craig Counsell’s Honest Message That Turned Pete Crow-Armstrong Into a June Monster

For a Cubs team clinging to relevance in a suddenly brutal NL Central race, a breakout might have come from the most unlikely source — a quiet conversation with the manager about privilege.

Center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong, 22, has been electric over the past week. On June 6, he went 4-for-5 with two home runs and a pair of RBIs, helping Chicago top the Giants 3-2. The performance capped a stretch that has fans whispering about an MVP-level surge. But the catalyst wasn’t a mechanical adjustment or a film session — it was a message from skipper Craig Counsell about perspective.

“We get to play this game,” Crow-Armstrong told Patrick Mooney of The Athletic. “We’re all lucky enough to be able to show up every day. ‘Couns’ made an interesting point to me the other day when he said, ‘It kind of feels like it’s a bunch of have to. We have to get the job done. We have to pick it up, turn it around, win these games. You can’t forget that we get to do this.’”

Counsell, a veteran of 1,600-plus games as a player, delivered the line during a stretch when the Cubs had lost seven of ten and seemed to be losing their grip on the season. Chicago started hot — they had two separate 10-game winning streaks and sat near the top of the division — but injuries and inconsistency dragged them back to .500 territory.

The message clearly landed. Over the weekend, the Cubs took two of three from the Giants on the road. They returned to Wrigley Field on Monday for a three-game set against the Colorado Rockies, still very much in the hunt despite a 37-35 record that places them third in the division, 7.5 games back of the Brewers (43-26).

Crow-Armstrong is now batting .267 with 72 hits, 12 homers, 33 RBIs, and 42 runs scored. His June numbers are even more eye-catching, and the timing couldn’t be better. With the trade deadline approaching and the front office watching closely, a young player finding his stride — and his joy — might be the most valuable thing the Cubs have going.

The team has not commented on whether Counsell’s philosophy will become a regular part of pregame meetings, but fans online noted the shift in body language from Crow-Armstrong, who has been visibly looser in the box and more aggressive on the bases. For a club that has sometimes looked tight, the message might be exactly what the doctor ordered.