Pete Crow-Armstrong, a top outfield prospect, is being called up by the Cubs, according to Jeff Passan of ESPN. It is anticipated that he will be activated before tomorrow’s game. For the Cubs to legally choose Crow-Armstrong’s contract, they will need to make a transaction with 40 men on the roster.
The now-21-year-old Crow-Armstrong, who was chosen by the Mets with the No. 19 overall choice in 2020, was the star prospect in the transaction that sent Trevor Williams and Javier Baez from Chicago to New York in 2021. Although Crow-Armstrong was already considered a promising prospect at the time of the trade, his value has since increased dramatically. According to Baseball America and MLB.com, he currently stands in 12th place among the league’s top 100 prospects, while Keith Law of The Athletic ranks him 18th and Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs ranks him 23rd.
Crow-Armstrong has long been regarded as a 70- or even 80-grade centre field defender (on a 20-80 scale), but since joining the Cubs, he has developed into a more potent player and now has the appearance of a five-tool centre fielder. He has played in both Double-A and Triple-A this season, posting a combined batting line of.283/.365/.511 with 20 home runs, 26 doubles, 7 triples, and 37 steals (in 47 tries).
Crow-Armstrong has struck out at a rate of 25.8% compared to a walk rate of 9.2%, which is above average but still far from exceptional, meaning that he has made less errors than the Cubs would like to see. Additionally, he faces much older and more skilled opponents as a 21-year-old, so there’s probably some optimism that he can continue to hone his pitch selection and bat-to-ball skills as he gets older.
In the long run, Crow-Armstrong hopes to establish himself as the Cubs’ regular centre fielder and stay there for the six or more seasons that they will have arbitration control over. However, “PCA” will provide the squad with a short-term solution in place of Mike Tauchman, who has struggled recently, batting just.163/.295/.188 in 95 plate appearances. Naturally, Cody Bellinger is also capable of playing centre field, but since recovering from a knee ailment earlier this summer, he has played first base and designated hitter quite a bit. In addition to improving the outfield defence and possibly delivering more offence than they now get from Tauchman, Crow-Armstrong could be able to let him keep doing so.
