DENVER – In Pete Crow-Armstrong’s last Triple-A game before being called up to the big-leagues, the Cubs top prospect launched a grand slam over the right field fence at Principal Park in Des Moines, Iowa.
Crow-Armstrong is joining the major-league team in Denver, sources confirmed to the Sun-Times on Monday. He adds speed and defensive prowess as the Cubs open a three-game series against the Rockies at Coors Field.
As of Monday afternoon, the Cubs had yet to make Crow-Armstrong’s call-up official or announce corresponding moves. Crow-Armstrong was hitting .300 this month in Triple-A and had seven hits in his last two games combined.
Manager David Ross and president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer have been clear about the lack of at-bats available for a rotating cast of September call-ups. The calculation has changed from the last two years, when the Cubs were rebuilding and development was a priority in the second half. The team entered Monday in the second NL Wild Card spot and three games back of the division-leading Brewers.
“The guys that got us here are going to play,” Ross said last week, “and the guys that are on the bench, if they’ve got roles, they’ll fill in those roles.”
Outfield prospect Alexander Canario, who the Cubs recalled on Sept. 1, has had just one pinch-hit at-bat in the Cubs’ last 11 games.
Crow-Armstrong could also add value as a pinch runner or defensive replacement.
MLB Pipeline ranks Crow-Armstrong the No. 12 prospect in MLB. The Cubs acquired him from the Mets at the 2021 trade deadline for shortstop Javier Báez, a key member of the Cubs’ last championship core, and right-hander Trevor Williams.
Crow-Armstrong was recovering from surgery on his right labrum, his non-throwing shoulder, at the time. But after an offseason largely spent at the Cubs’ spring training complex in Arizona, he hit .312 across Single-A and High-A, was selected to the All-Star Futures Game for the first time, and won the Midwest League championship with South Bend.
As Crow-Armstrong has climbed from Double-A to Triple-A this season, the defensive highlights have remained a constant. And he’s recorded 37 stolen bases. Slashing .283/.365/.511 this year, he’s already hit 20 home runs, four more than last season. In the past week alone, he’s blasted two grand slams.
