The Chicago Cubs have some serious questions to answer this season in terms of who is going to be playing where, who is going to be taking the bump every fifth day, along with who is going to come out of the bullpen to help shut games down.

But among the biggest questions for the Cubs is how the batting order will shake out and who will be batting where in the lineup.

Though the issue remains a major unknown at this point, you can likely put in ink at least one aspect of the lineup in terms of knowing where someone will not be on Opening Day.

In an article by Sahadev Sharma and Patrick Mooney of The Athletic, Chicago manager Craig Counsell was fairly open and definitive that defensive standout outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong will not be hitting leadoff at the beginning of his second full MLB season.

“Best offensive players hit the most,” Counsell said. “That’s kind of always going to be the original thought. I think Pete could get there. Pete is a developing baseball player and we still want to get that right. There’s no lineup decisions made. But, frankly, gut says no Pete at the top to start the year.”

Counsell is certainly correct in saying Crow-Armstrong is a developing player, and his offensive numbers from the first half of the year to the second half of the year reflect that.

Seeing a significant jump in on-base percentage over the second half was the most convincing reason to utilize his speed at the top of the lineup, but clearly Crow-Armstrong isn’t quite where he wants a leadoff hitter in his lineup to be.

For the season as a whole, Crow-Armstrong finished the year with a .286 mark in that category, but from late July on that percentage ticked up significantly to .336.

If Crow-Armstrong can be as effective at the plate to start the 2025 season as he was to end his rookie year in 2024 and even potentially take another leap, it stands to reason he could take command of the leadoff spot.

With his defense which is already borderline elite, Crow-Armstrong has the makings of a franchise building block if he can reach his offensive ceiling, something which seemed likely as he was coming up the ranks.

Naturally, it took the young speedster some time to adjust to Major League pitching and it will continue to be an ongoing process, but Crow-Armstrong has the potential to be an everyday player for a very long time.

Just don’t count on him taking over the first spot in the lineup, at least not yet.