Chicago Cubs: Oh, for the love of Pete (Crow-Armstrong)

Chicago Cubs prospect Pete Crow-Armstrong got some love from MLB analyst Jim Callis recently, as one of the best defensive prospects in professional baseball. Callis said: “His combination of plus speed and quality reads and routes allows him to cover plenty of ground in center, and he also owns solid arm strength.”

The question is Crow-Armstrong’s bat. He hit .417 in 32 at-bats for the Port St. Lucie Mets, but that sample size isn’t going to convince anyone.

He did hit .364 for the 2019 WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup for Team USA, batting leadoff in eight out of the nine games they played, with a .405 OBP. That was his third year playing for the national team. He hit .375 in 2018 and .280 in 2017. The downside is that he hits with no power. Fangraphs has him at 20/45 ‘game power’ and 45/50 ‘raw power’. The supposition therefore is that he might grow into additional power as he goes along and learns the various leagues and pitchers.

In any case, his eye and tools would be valuable as a leadoff man, and many people are interested in seeing him play for an extended period in 2022. He’s just 19 years old and will likely be in A-ball. If he tears it up, maybe he’ll see Double-A Tennessee this year.

He’s an exciting prospect, acquired from the Mets in the Javier Baez trade. But he’s probably due to join the big league club in 2024-25. The Cubs’ lower reaches are stacked with outfielders, shortstops and power arms. It bodes well for the future, but isn’t much for the present.

Eric Longenhagen and Tess Tarushkin had Crow-Armstrong as the 13th-ranked prospect in the Cubs’ system, back in December. Brennen Davis, of course, owns the top spot, and several of the prospects have already seen MLB time, and /or are on the 40-man roster, so we’ll not see them for a bit.

Which is a shame, because he’s almost certainly one of the prospects who could see some at-bats against MLB pitching in a spring setting, and that would be instructive for everyone… but Myrtle Beach or South Bend are not terrible places to play, with good coaching and decent-quality fields to play on, and there’s good competition at the lower levels right now.

Let’s see how Crow-Armstrong does in 2022, and we’ll revisit in 2023. But I am enamored of his tools and have hope for the possibility of his leading off for the beloved some time in the reasonably near future.