Cubs invite top prospect Crow-Armstrong to spring camp
CHICAGO — Pete Crow-Armstrong has been lauded for his work as a middle fielder within the Cubs’ farm system. The fleet-footed prospect picked up a Minor League Gold Glove Award for his work final 12 months, when he dropped jaws together with his unbelievable vary and instincts.
Crow-Armstrong ought to have a house in middle area at Wrigley Field in some unspecified time in the future within the comparatively close to future, however that job at present belongs to veteran Cody Bellinger. As a non-roster invitee this spring, Crow-Armstrong will get to check the way in which Bellinger approaches the place as a Gold Glove winner within the huge leagues.
“What I’m really excited about is getting to actually just watch him move,” Crow-Armstrong mentioned at Cubs Convention in January. “I want to see what he does. I like mirroring and kind of applying, or whatever you want to call it. Yeah, I’m really excited to see how he works defensively.”
On Monday, Crow-Armstrong was among the many 32 gamers introduced by the Cubs as non-roster invitees for Major League Spring Training. Besides Crow-Armstrong (Pipeline’s No. 1-ranked Cubs prospect), invitees from the Cubs’ Top 30 Prospects checklist included first baseman Matt Mervis (No. 21) and infielder Chase Strumpf (No. 25).
Here is a breakdown of the non-roster invitees for the Cubs:
Right-handed pitchers: Nick Burdi, Danis Correa, Tyler Duffey, Jordan Holloway, Ben Leeper, Mark Leiter Jr., Nick Neidert, Vinny Nittoli, Manuel Rodríguez and Cam Sanders.
Left-handed pitchers: Ryan Borucki, Roenis Elías, Bailey Horn, Anthony Kay, Brendon Little, Brailyn Marquez and Eric Stout.
Infielders: Sergio Alcántara, David Bote, Mervis, Esteban Quiroz, Strumpf, Andy Weber and Jared Young.
Outfielders: Crow-Armstrong, Ben DeLuzio, Darius Hill, Yonathan Perlaza and Mike Tauchman.
Catchers: Dom Nuñez, Luis Torrens and Bryce Windham.
The Cubs landed the 20-year-old Crow-Armstrong from the Mets as a part of the 2021 Trade Deadline deal that shipped Javier Báez to Queens. At the time, Crow-Armstrong was recovering from a proper shoulder harm that restricted him to 6 video games throughout that ’21 marketing campaign.
Crow-Armstrong labored again to full power and loved a breakout season in ’22.
The 2020 first-round Draft decide took half within the SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game in ’22, helped High-A South Bend win the Midwest League championship, took over as Pipeline’s high Cubs prospect, picked up a Minor League Gold Glove Award and was ranked No. 28 on Pipeline’s Top 100 checklist going into ’23.
Over 101 video games between Single-A Myrtle Beach and South Bend final 12 months, Crow-Armstrong slashed .312/.376/.520 with 16 house runs, 20 doubles, 10 triples, 61 RBIs, 32 stolen bases and 89 runs scored. He posted a 1.000 OPS in 38 video games on the Single-A stage earlier than incomes a promotion to South Bend, the place he hit .287 with an .831 OPS in 63 video games.
Crow-Armstrong mentioned combating via some late-season struggles however having the South Bend membership pull collectively to win the league title was an vital second on his highway to the Majors.
“I think it definitely translated in a sense, in terms of the culture that we want to build here,” Crow-Armstrong mentioned. “There’s a lot of us who expect to be playing together — everything willing. Yeah, I think it definitely is a little bit of foreshadowing. Call it what you want.”
Over the offseason, the Cubs made some main additions to their Major League roster, signing the likes of shortstop Dansby Swanson, pitcher Jameson Taillon and Bellinger, amongst others. Crow-Armstrong mentioned the strikes didn’t “directly affect” him, however added that he preferred the potential big-picture implications.
“It’s nice to see guys like Belli and Dansby get signed,” he mentioned. “A guy like Dansby, as a young guy, it’s cool seeing that, because he knows how to win and he’s a known leader. And then Belli, guys like that, it’s adding really good pieces. I think that people are going to be surprised as to just how close the Cubs actually are to being a contending team.”
