Pete Crow-Armstrong

Acquired from the Mets for two months of Javier Baez at the 2021 trade deadline, Crow-Armstrong is now one of the Cubs' best long-term building blocks. He needed shoulder surgery in early 2021 and returned last season with a vengeance, slashing .307/.372/.520 with 16 home runs, 32 steals (74.4% success rate), a 21.4 K% and a 7.8 BB% in 476 plate appearances, with over half of those coming at High-A. His approach was significantly better at Single-A (0.67 BB/K) than at High-A (0.20 BB/K), but he put his power and speed to use with regularity in games at both stops. His 39% groundball rate at High-A was particularly strong. The lefty-hitting center fielder has clear big-league tools, it's just a question of whether his bat will belong in the top third of a lineup or in the bottom half. His plus speed is even more evident when he's covering ground in center field than when he is on the basepaths, and his excellent defense should protect against a platoon or inconsistent playing. He should spend the bulk of his age-21 season at Double-A.

The Cubs did a nice piece of business when they acquired Crow-Armstrong from the Mets in exchange for Javier Baez and Trevor Williams at the trade deadline. He only played in six games at Low-A before suffering a season-ending shoulder injury, but he may not have been available for a Baez rental had he stayed healthy. Crow-Armstrong couldn't have performed much better in his limited action, notching 10 hits (including two doubles) with more walks (seven) than strikeouts (six) in those six games. He also attempted five steals but was successful just twice. He gets rave reviews for his defense in center field and plus speed on the bases, but Crow-Armstrong has a sneaky high offensive ceiling -- there is more power potential than he is given credit for by some evaluators. If it all comes together, he could be a 20/20 threat who leads off or bats second. Given his limited pro experience, his stock could swing significantly in either direction in his age-20 season, depending on how he performs at the plate.

Crow-Armstrong, one of the most famous prep players in last year's class, has a chance to be a five-tool player if his bat maxes out. The Mets selected him with the 19th overall pick and he now profiles as their center fielder of the future. He should hold plus speed into his late 20s and could be a plus defensive center fielder with a plus arm. While he will probably always be hit-over-power, Crow-Armstrong has plus bat speed and a good swing plane, so if he develops a plus hit tool, he should be able to tap into 20-homer power. He didn't live up to expectations in the summer of 2019, but the left-handed hitter was off to a great start last spring, and he could have risen back into top-10 consideration had he played a full senior season at Harvard-Westlake. He started tapping into power during the fall instructional league, driving the ball to both gaps and hitting one out at 107 mph.