Cubs Top Prospect Pete Crow-Armstrong Reaches Five Times

Pete Crow-Armstrong continued his stellar season Saturday, going 4-4 with three doubles, an RBI, and an intentional walk in his five plate appearances. The Cubs number one prospect rose his OPS by 41 points with the performance.

The lefty set the tone early, doubling to left-center on the first pitch he saw in the bottom of the first. The former first-round pick replicated that success in the bottom of the third, singling on the first pitch he saw again and scoring Yeison Santana in the process.

In the bottom of the fifth, the Crow-Armstrong would again scorch the first pitch he saw for a double, this time on a line drive to right field. The outfielder would again bat in the seventh, this time working a four-pitch at-bat before serving a 2-1 pitch to shallow left field and using his 60-grade speed to leg out his third double of the night.

With a runner on second and one out in the bottom of the ninth in a 3-3 ballgame the Beloit Sky Carp opted to intentionally walk Crow-Armstrong to cap off his evening. While this is obviously an impressive evening from a box score perspective, it's even more impressive when you consider the content of his balls in play.

For one, the California native used the whole field, pulling the ball in two at-bats, and going to straight left and left-center with his other two. Using the whole field will continue to keep pitchers off-balance when facing Crow-Armstrong, and it will be much harder to manipulate a defense to take away hits from him.

Secondly, the Harvard-Westlake School product did not hit the ball on the ground once. Groundballs haven't been a  problem for the outfielder (37% entering Saturday), and it's imperative that it remains that way as even though he has the speed to beat some of them out, it is the lowest success rate of all batted balls and his speed is better used on balls into the corners and gaps.

Crow-Armstrong has been the biggest revelation in the Cubs system this season, flashing the tools to be a consistent all-star in the future and could be a key piece of the next great Chicago core.

Elsewhere on the farm:

Triple-A: Iowa Cubs (52-64) at Indianapolis Indians (57-57): L 6-2

• For the third game in a row, Darius Hill turned in a 1-3 with a walk performance. The leadoff man is batting .338 on the season.
• Alfonso Rivas went 1-4 with an RBI. The 25-year-old has a .869 OPS with the Iowa Cubs this season. 
• Manuel Rodriguez pitched one inning and struck out the side in his second Triple-A appearance since returning from injury. The righty sat mid-upper 90's and could be a September call-up candidate.

Double-A: Tennessee Smokies (60-53) at Birmingham Barons (51-62): L 14-3

• After a dominant start to the month, Jordan Wicks velocity was down, and may have suffered an injury Saturday. The Cubs 2021 first-round pick gave up five earned runs before being pulled. 
• Jake Slaughter went 2-4 with a triple, raising his season OPS to .952.
• Lefty Bailey Horn pitched 1 1/3 perfect innings with three strikeouts. The lefty was the lone player the Cubs received in the 2021 Ryan Tepera trade. 
• Miguel Amaya was not in the lineup after being pulled after two plate appearances on Friday.

High-A: South Bend Cubs (63-50) vs. Beloit Sky Carp (56-56): W 4-3

• Luis Verdugo went 2-4 with a walk. The third baseman delivered a walk-off RBI single to score Yeison Santana.
• Fabian Pertuz went 1-5 with a double and an RBI. The righty is second on the team in doubles with 24. 
• Richard Gallardo pitched five solid innings for South Bend. The 20-year-old allowed one run on four hits and two walks, striking out three as well. 

Single-A: Myrtle Beach Pelicans (69-44) at Down East Wood Ducks (59-54): L 6-5

• After committing three errors on Friday, it was another sloppy game for the Pelicans, committing another four Saturday. The first two Down East batters reached on errors committed by Josue Huma and James Triantos, leading to four unearned runs scoring in the frame. 
• Myrtle Beach starter Grant Kipp had a nice outing, allowing the four runs in the first inning that were unearned while putting up six punchouts to just one walk and three hits. The 2022 undrafted free agent out of Yale has an ERA of 1.35 in Single-A.
• Triantos did have a productive day at the dish, going 2-3 with an RBI and a walk. Chicago's 2021 second-round pick also stole his 12th bag of the season.
• Moises Ballesteros also went 2-3 with a walk, improving his Single-A OPS to .746.

Transactions:

• Right-handed pitcher Anderson Espinoza was recalled from Triple-A Iowa after Keegan Thompson was placed on the 15-day injured list.
• Cubs 2022 10th-round pick Brody McCullough was assigned to the ACL Cubs. The righty pitched two scoreless innings in a 3-1 ACL Cubs victory, allowing two hits, walking zero, and striking out three. The 22-year-old also picked up the win.