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Baseball America updates their Cubs Top 30 Prospects

And Pete Crow-Armstrong is the new number one

By Josh Timmers
Colorado Rockies v Chicago Cubs Photo by David Durochik/Diamond Images via Getty Images

Baseball America, the oldest and one of the most prestigious of the minor-league rankings, published a mid-season update of the Top 30 prospects of all 30 teams. And outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong is the new No. 1 prospect in the Cubs organization (Baseball America sub. req) according to them.

Crow-Armstrong, 20, has been impressive since coming over from the Mets in the Javier Baez/Trevor Williams deal last summer. Although he was out for the 2021 season with a shoulder injury when the deal was made, Crow-Armstrong has made a full recovery and has added power to his already impressive set of tools. Defensively, Crow-Armstrong is good enough that he could probably jump to the majors right now and be one of the top ten defensive center fielders in the league. As it is, he’s is working on his hitting in High-A South Bend. He’s currently hitting .273/.298/.535 with four home runs in 23 games for the SB Cubs. Before the promotion, PCA (as he’s called) hit .354/.443/.557 in 38 games for Low-A Myrtle Beach.

The previous Cubs’ number-one prospect, outfielder Brennen Davis, has dropped to number two. He’s had an injury-plagued season and his currently on the injured list because of back surgery. But his dropping to number two has as much to do with the emergence of Crow-Armstrong as it does with his injury.

The actual list and the scouting reports are behind a paywall, but I can give you the list. Matt Mervis fans will be excited.

  1. Pete Crow-Armstrong OF
  2. Brennen Davis OF
  3. Cristian Hernandez SS
  4. Caleb Kilian RHP
  5. Kevin Alcantara OF
  6. Owen Caissie OF
  7. Jordan Wicks LHP
  8. Kevin Made SS
  9. D.J. Herz LHP
  10. Nelson Velazquez OF
  11. Miguel Amaya C
  12. James Triantos 2B/3B
  13. Yohendrick Pinango OF
  14. Ryan Jensen RHP
  15. Brailyn Marquez LHP
  16. Alexander Canario OF
  17. Moises Ballesteros C
  18. Matt Mervis 1B
  19. Brandon Hughes LHP
  20. Cam Sanders RHP
  21. Darius Hill OF
  22. Chase Strumpf 2B
  23. Kohl Franklin RHP
  24. Daniel Palencia RHP
  25. Yeison Santana SS
  26. Bryce Ball 1B
  27. Ben Leeper RHP
  28. Jordan Nwogu OF
  29. Manuel Rodriguez RHP
  30. Ed Howard SS

Despite some real disappointments (Davis, Marquez, Howard), the players on this list seem like a step up from this winter and a huge improvement over where the system was at this time last year. Hopefully, Cubs fans will be able to see most these players at Wrigley Field in the near future and beyond.

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