Chicago Cubs outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong, who just turned 23 in March, has quickly turned into one of the best players in baseball.
In fact, by one metric, he may be the second-best player in MLB.
On Tuesday night, PCA crushed a home run deep into the right field night in Pittsburgh. And by the end of the game, he trailed just Aaron Judge in Fangraphs’ WAR rankings.
Judge has 2.9 WAR, with Crow-Armstrong at 2.1, fractionally ahead of Corbin Carroll and Fernando Tatis Jr.
Crow-Armstrong is now batting .284 with 10 doubles, a triple, six home runs and 23 RBI.
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PCA also leads the National League with 12 stolen bases. He’s only been caught once.
That all comes on top of Crow-Armstrong’s centerfield defense, which might be the best in the NL.
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It’s a huge development for the Cubs, who were hoping the young lefty would continue to figure thinks out while he scuffled early last season en route to a .237 average.
PCA closed the 2024 season strong, though, and he’s carried that into this campaign.
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The sky now appears to be the limit. His power-speed combo is tantalizing, and he was always going to be valuable just based on his defense.
Chicago may have missed the boat on extending Crow-Armstrong for some value on a contract. Whenever PCA gets paid now, it’ll be for the big bucks, and he’ll have earned every penny.