Pete Crow-Armstrong hit his 43rd and 44th home runs of the season against the Atlanta Braves last week. When he entered the plate with bases loaded in the 8th on September 16, the Wrigley Field crowd chanted “M-V-Pete! M-V-Pete!” The moment captured just how quickly PCA’s remarkable season has made him the face of the Chicago Cubs’ postseason push, and one high-profile Hollywood star, a Los Angeles Dodgers fan, is afraid of PCA’s threat to his favorite team.

Appearing on Wednesday’s episode of the “Talkin’ Baseball” podcast, Actor/filmmaker Rob Lowe recently spoke about whether the back-to-back World Series champions have anything to fear from the National League. Without wasting a second, he replied, “Cubs.”

When asked for a reason, he promptly said, “Crow-Armstrong.”

Lowe continued, “That rabid fan, Wrigley, America’s sweetheart, perennial underdog. Do you know what I mean? Just the storyline. We love that storyline.”

The 24-year-old Cub is batting at .280 with a .949 OPS this season. He has recorded 107 RBIs with 45 home runs. His 9.8 WAR makes him one of the biggest contenders for the NL MVP award. And with Shohei Ohtani’s recent injury struggles, Crew-Armstrong is the frontrunner for the award.

The Dodgers have already qualified for the postseason as the NL West leaders. They are currently the second-seeded team. The Cubs, on the other hand, are mathematically in the playoff picture but still fighting for a specific spot. 

So what exactly makes them a challenge for a team eyeing its third ring in a row?

The Dodgers and the Cubs don’t have a rivalry in that sense. In fact, they have met only three times in the postseason, with LA having a 2-1 series record against their NL opponent. The Dodgers won 3-0 in the 2008 NLDS. But Chicago came up on top eight years later, winning 4-2 in the NLCS. They even went on to win the World Series in 2016. A year later, the Dodgers won 4-1 in the NLCS before losing the ring to the Houston Astros. 

While that was almost a decade ago, the caliber of Ohtani and Crow-Armstrong has intensified the competition. And despite the Dodgers’ positiong in the current standings, the Cubs are ahead on the head-to-head count. 

The Dodgers won the home series 2-1 in April. But in August, the Cubs swept them at Wrigley Field. That makes it 4-2 in favor of Chicago. Plus, the way Pete Crow-Armstrong is performing, it won’t be a cakewalk for the Dodgers if they meet this postseason. 

Analyst Jake Storiale of the “Talkin’ Baseball” podcast hailed PCA a few days ago, saying, “What Pete Crow-Armstrong is doing this year is out of his mind.”

And most baseball fans would agree.