This story was excerpted from Jordan Bastian’s Cubs Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

CHICAGO -- In his first game back with the Cubs, rookie Pete Crow-Armstrong headed out to center field in the eighth inning of Wednesday night’s game against the Astros. It was a way to strengthen the defense in a tight contest, but Cubs manager Craig Counsell explained that it was also to get Ian Happ off his feet after a recent bout with a hamstring issue.

It was the first snapshot into how Counsell will find moments to use Crow-Armstrong -- Pipeline’s top-ranked Cubs prospect and the No. 15 prospect in baseball -- after calling him up from Triple-A when Cody Bellinger (two right rib fractures) landed on the injured list. Crow-Armstrong will offer late-inning defense, plus speed for certain situations and be given opportunistic chances to be in the lineup.

“Pete’s here because of injuries, right?” Counsell said. “When these guys get healthy, there’s probably not going to be a spot for him. And so, from that perspective, we’re maybe taking a timeout [on his Minor League development]. But I still think big league at-bats, big league competition, that’s development, too.

“It may not be on an everyday basis here, but there’s still things to learn. And really, the priority is going to be winning games, and we’ll put him in spots that hopefully help us do that.”

The ball never fell to Crow-Armstrong in the final two innings, but the Cubs did hold on for a 4-3 win. After the victory, the 22-year-old rookie said that the team’s success comes before his personal stats right now.

Crow-Armstrong enjoyed a strong showing between Double-A Tennessee and Triple-A Iowa in 2023 -- hitting .283/.365/.511 with 20 homers, 26 doubles, 82 RBIs, 98 runs and 37 steals in 107 games -- before going 0-for-14 with the Cubs down the stretch. To start this season, the outfielder has hit just .203/.241/.392 with nine extra-base hits in 19 games for Iowa, but said he was feeling better in the batter’s box than the early numbers would indicate.

And when Crow-Armstrong arrived to Wrigley Field on Wednesday, he said he had a great conversation with Counsell. The rookie said they touched not only on his current role with the Cubs, but how Crow-Armstrong has used his experience over the past year to improve his mental focus.

“I was able to kind of zoom out and look at the bigger picture here,” Crow-Armstrong said Wednesday night. “And whatever level I'm at, I think what I've realized -- and what's so beautiful about Counsell laying stuff out for me today -- was at every level, I've come to find that winning really does make everything better.

“And so if you're going out there and making that your focus, then you could be scuffling at the plate like I was or like I will, and it'll be OK.”

Crow-Armstrong added that he feels that mentality is spreading through the system.

“Everybody's really bought into winning at whatever level,” he said. “I think if you practice that and you get up here, I think it's a little easier to buy into that picture and play your role.”