Top Cubs prospect Pete Crow-Armstrong is swinging a hot stick

As I’m sure you’re well aware, according to MLB Pipeline, there’s a new top prospect in the Cubs organization who’s been scorching hot at High-A in Pete Crow-Armstrong.

After a somewhat rough go of things following his promotion from Myrtle Beach, Crow-Armstrong has quickly turned the corner and now has his slash line up to .278/.323/.505, thanks to a  scorching Earth as of late after going 9-for-24 over his last seven games, good for a .375 average in that time.

Despite his recent success, the Cubs won’t want to push things too quickly with their top prospect. After all, heading into 2023, you feel pretty good about a combination of Christopher Morel, Ian Happ and Seiya Suzuki holding things down in the big league outfield and Brennen Davis is back healthy and knocking on the door, too.

Still, with exceptional defense and bat to ball skills, I could see PCA getting a taste of Double-A Tennessee before the season is over. The Smokies are in the midst of trying to clinch a playoff spot and are down an outfielder after Alexander Canario recently got the call to Triple-A Iowa and Crow-Armstrong certainly has the raw talent to help the club in their postseason pursuit.

PCA was drafted 19th overall in the first round of the 2019 draft out of Harvard-Westlake High School. Without a minor league season in 2020 due to the COVID pandemic, it wasn’t until last year that he made his pro ball debut which unfortunately was cut short due to injury. As many remember, he was then acquired by the Cubs via trade from the New York Mets in exchange for Javier Baez and Trevor Williams. Since that time, it has been all uphill from there.

Cubs: Pete Crow-Armstrong has heated up as the summer progresses

In Myrtle Beach earlier this season, he put up video game-like numbers with a slash of .354/.443/.557 in 38 games and 183 plate appearances. It seems like he just needed a little time to adjust to the level of competition at High-A as he has raised his batting average considerably month by month since being promoted to South Bend.

• June: .220/.230/.458 in 59 at-bats
• July: .274/.312/.562 in 73 at-bats
• August: .325/.396/.488 in 76 at-bats

At only 20 years old, the faster PCA can adjust to the higher levels of competition, the sooner he will be in Chicago as a core piece for the next great Cubs team. His first season with the organization has been promising on that front – and suggest a bright future.