Pete Crow-Armstrong - 9/20/22

Prospect spotlight on the Cubs' Pete Crow-Armstrong

Prospect Spotlight 🔦

Pete Crow-Armstrong, CF - Age: 20 - B/T: L/L, 6' 0" / 184 - Cubs (A+)

• Born: 3/25/2002 in Sherman Oaks, CA

• Draft: 2020, New York Mets, Round: 1, Overall Pick: 19

• High School: Harvard-Westlake, Los Angeles, CA

After missing time due to injuries and the cancelled 2020 season, Pete Crow-Armstrong entered the 2022 campaign with only six professional games under his belt. Despite missing almost all of last season due to labrum surgery, the Cubs felt confident enough to make Crow-Armstrong the primary return in the deal that sent Javy Báez to the Mets at the trade deadline last year. PCA rewarded the Cubs’ confidence in his ability by putting up an outstanding 2022 season in which he hit a combined .312 / .376 / .520 while playing gold-glove caliber defense in center field. He only needed 38 games at Low-A Myrtle Beach to show he was ready for a new challenge, slashing .354 / .443 / .557 (175 wRC+) across 183 plate appearances during his time in the Carolina League.

Despite a slow start after his promotion in late May, PCA slashed .287 / .333 / .498 (126 wRC+) with nine home runs in 288 plate appearances in South Bend. He also swiped 19 bags — although he was also thrown out seven times (73%). When a player advances levels one of the most common changes is a regression in their walk-to-strikeout ratio. This was also the case for Crow-Armstrong who struck out at a rate 6% higher than he did in Low-A. He also began walking less as advanced pitchers felt more confident attacking him in the zone. He finished the regular season with a walk rate of 5% in South Bend, a percentage that was among the lowest in all of High-A.

One of the most positive developments for PCA this season was hitting for more power than previously expected. This is due in part to an adjustment to his swing the Cubs worked on during the offseason. In a recent piece in The Athletic, this is what the Cubs’ minor-league hitting coordinator, Dustin Kelly, had to say about Crow-Armstrong’s development this season: