Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong represents the latest and most representative example of my favorite sort of baseball player: the extremely rangy defensive genius whose devilish speed on the basepaths is only matched by his inability to reach them. He has an inside-the-park home run this year, he flirted with the rookie record for consecutive steals without getting caught (even then, the streak ended on a play that was more like a pickoff), and his OBP is .290. Both of his parents were on Heroes. Perfect ballplayer.
Most importantly, his glove is a tremendous eraser for the Cubs, and Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium, he treated fans to a spectacular night of defense. With two outs in the seventh inning, Crow-Armstrong recorded the final out of Shota Imanaga's night by sprinting all the way across the yard and sliding in to nab a would-be double from Enrique Hernández. Imanaga really popped for the catch, and it wound up securing him the win after the Cubs posted a five-run eighth.
One frame later, Shohei Ohtani bonked a towering ball into the same gap, and PCA got there again. This time around, he had to execute a last-second adjustment to make the catch, and he did, keeping a would-be Dodgers rally quiet. Each of those first two plays would be the highlight of most center fielders' evenings, yet he saved the best for last. With two outs in the bottom of the ninth and a runner on third, Max Muncy hit one over the wall in right-center. Crow-Armstrong leapt up and yoinked it.
PCA's teammates and manager had high praise for the rookie after the game. "Pete out there saved the team,” Imanaga said through an interpreter. "When the ball went in the air, I was prepared for a run, but when it was coming down, knowing it was Pete, I had faith in him." Cubs DH Seiya Suzuki was similarly awed. "Honestly, it feels like he has some like Velcro or something in his glove," he said through the same interpreter. “It's terrible for them."
Crow-Armstrong is just 22, so there is ample reason for optimism. Fangraphs' Michael Baumann crunched the numbers and came away hopeful that PCA can, or eventually could, swing that bat at an above-average level, which is rad. The only downside here is that he's in line to do it for the Cubs.
