How good has Chicago Cubs outfield prospect Pete Crow-Armstrong been since he (1) got over his hand injury, and (2) had some time to adjust to the High-A Midwest League?
Well, let’s just say he was good enough in August to win the league’s player of the month honors, as just announced by Minor League Baseball:
South Bend Cubs outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong batted .356/.417/.535 and led the league in hits (36), average (.356), total bases (54) and OPS (.952). He was second in on-base percentage (.417), third in doubles (seven), fourth in slugging percentage (.535) and fifth in runs (18). He recorded 12 multi-hit games and tied his career high with four hits on August 20 against Beloit. Crow-Armstrong, 20, was originally selected by New York (NL) in the first round of the 2021 MLB Draft out of Harvard-Westlake High School in Los Angeles. He was traded by the Mets to the Cubs on July 30, 2021, in exchange for Javier Báez.
PCA, who has ascended to the top prospect in the Cubs system, is now hitting .318/.380/.533/149 wRC+ on his full season, split between Low-A and High-A. The 20-year-old elite defensive center fielder is raking in his first full season following last year’s shoulder surgery and trade to the Cubs, and he has pretty much been everything you could have possibly hoped he would be this year.
Oh, and while we’re on it, how about PCA’s teammate with the South Bend Cubs winning the pitching honors in the Midwest League for August:
South Bend Cubs right-hander Luis Devers went 1-0 with a 1.35 ERA in four starts as he allowed three earned runs on 10 hits and four walks in 20.0 innings. He struck out 20 batters and held opponents to a .149 average. Devers, 22, was signed by Chicago as an international free agent out of Samana, Dominican Republic, on July 19, 2017.
Devers, 22, is likely going to win pitcher of the year honors in the Cubs’ system, as he’s now sporting a 1.91(!) ERA over his 113.0 innings split between Low-A and High-A. He’s got a 27.1% K rate against a 5.1% BB rate, and I cannot wait to see how he performs next year against higher-level competition.