Pete Crow-Armstrong Bio
Peter Henry Crow-Armstrong (born March 25, 2002) is an American professional baseball center fielder for the Chicago Cubs of Major League Baseball (MLB). Nicknamed “PCA” for his initials, Crow-Armstrong was drafted 19th overall by the New York Mets in the 2020 MLB Draft before being traded to the Chicago Cubs in July 2021 as part of a package for Javier Báez and Trevor Williams. He made his MLB debut in September 2023 and quickly established himself as one of the most dynamic young players in the sport. Crow-Armstrong has earned recognition as a 2025 All-Star, a Gold Glove Award winner, a member of the All-MLB Second Team, and as just the second player in Chicago Cubs history to record a 30-30 season.
Early Life and Background
Pete Crow-Armstrong was born on March 25, 2002, in Los Angeles, California, to Matthew John Armstrong and Ashley Crow, both of whom are established actors. He grew up in Sherman Oaks, California, where he played Little League Baseball in the Sherman Oaks Little League. His parents’ careers in entertainment did not prevent them from supporting their son’s athletic pursuits, and Crow-Armstrong developed a passion for baseball at a young age in the competitive youth sports scene of Los Angeles.
Crow-Armstrong attended Harvard-Westlake School in Los Angeles, one of the premier high school baseball programs in the United States. During his junior year in 2019, he emerged as one of the top high school players in the country, earning the Los Angeles Times Player of the Year honors after hitting .395 with three home runs, 23 runs batted in, and 47 hits over 34 games while striking out only seven times. That summer, he played in the prestigious Under Armour All-America Baseball Game, further cementing his status as a top prospect.
During his senior year in 2020, Crow-Armstrong was batting an exceptional .514 before the baseball season was abruptly shortened due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the truncated season, his performance attracted attention from college programs and MLB scouts. He had committed to play college baseball at Vanderbilt University, a program known for developing elite professional talent, before entering the 2020 MLB Draft.
Path to Professional Baseball
Crow-Armstrong was considered one of the top prospects heading into the 2020 MLB Draft. The New York Mets selected him with the 19th overall pick, recognizing his combination of speed, defensive prowess, and developing offensive skills. He signed with the Mets on June 25, 2020, for a signing bonus of $3.4 million. Due to the pandemic, he did not play in any minor league games during the 2020 season as the minor league campaign was canceled entirely.
He began the 2021 season with the St. Lucie Mets of the Low-A Southeast League, but his season was cut short when he underwent surgery on his right shoulder for a glenoid lab articular disruption on May 18. The injury ended his first full professional season prematurely, though he managed to hit .417 with four RBIs and two stolen bases in his brief 24 at-bat stint. The recovery from this surgery would become a defining challenge in his early career.
The trade that would change the trajectory of Crow-Armstrong’s career came on July 30, 2021, when the Mets traded him to the Chicago Cubs as part of a package for star shortstop Javier Báez and pitcher Trevor Williams. Crow-Armstrong later revealed that he learned of the trade while wearing a shoulder sling, initially thinking it was a joke. He would go on to become one of the key pieces in the Cubs’ long-term rebuild.
Pete Crow-Armstrong Career
Minor League Development (2021–2023)
After recovering from shoulder surgery, Crow-Armstrong began the 2022 season with the Myrtle Beach Pelicans of the Low-A Carolina League. He was promoted to the South Bend Cubs of the High-A Midwest League in late May. That season, he was selected to represent the Cubs at the All-Star Futures Game, showcasing his talents among the top prospects in baseball. He was also awarded the MiLB Gold Glove as one of the three best defensive outfielders in the minor leagues. Crow-Armstrong and South Bend captured the Midwest League championship that year, providing him with his first taste of winning at the professional level.
Crow-Armstrong opened the 2023 season with the Tennessee Smokies of the Double-A Southern League, beginning the year as the Cubs’ number one prospect and the sixth-ranked outfielder prospect in all of MLB. He continued to perform at a high level, batting .289 with 14 home runs, 60 RBIs, and 27 stolen bases in 73 games at Double-A. On July 31, 2023, he was promoted to Triple-A Iowa, where he hit .271 in 34 games. His combined performance produced an .876 OPS across both levels, making his promotion to the major leagues inevitable.
MLB Debut and 2023 Season
On September 11, 2023, after recording a combined .876 OPS in the minors, the Cubs called up Crow-Armstrong to the major leagues for the first time. That same day, he made his MLB debut against the Colorado Rockies, entering the game in the seventh inning as a pinch runner but was caught stealing third base. In the ninth inning, he recorded his first career plate appearance, hitting a sacrifice bunt. His first MLB start came the following day on September 12 in center field, where he went 0-for-4 with an RBI fielder’s choice and made two highlight-reel defensive plays in the outfield. In 13 games during September, Crow-Armstrong batted 0-for-14 with three walks and two stolen bases, primarily appearing as a pinch runner.
Breakthrough 2024 Season
Crow-Armstrong began the 2024 season with Triple-A Iowa after batting .138 in spring training. He was recalled to the majors on April 24 following an injury to Cody Bellinger. In the sixth inning of his first game back, he collected his first career hit, a go-ahead two-run home run off Bryan Abreu of the Houston Astros. The moment marked his emergence as a major league contributor. On August 23, 2024, Crow-Armstrong hit an inside-the-park home run off Max Meyer of the Miami Marlins, with Statcast recording it as the fastest time to home plate from a base hit since 2017 at 14.08 seconds and a peak sprint speed of 30.4 feet per second. In 123 games for the Cubs that season, he averaged .237 with 10 home runs, 27 stolen bases, and 47 RBIs.
Chicago Cubs Era (2023–Present)
Crow-Armstrong entered the 2025 season as the Cubs’ opening day center fielder, with the team beginning the season in Japan. He changed his uniform number from 52 to 4 before the season after losing a bet to Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer. He quickly became one of the most exciting players in baseball, demonstrating a rare combination of power and speed that had only been seen a handful of times in MLB history.
On May 23, 2025, Crow-Armstrong hit a go-ahead grand slam in a six-run seventh inning, leading Chicago to a 13-6 victory over the Cincinnati Reds. It was his first career grand slam and part of an extraordinary stretch where he became the first Cubs player with two six-RBI games in a calendar month since RBIs became official in 1920. On June 3, he became the fourth-fastest major leaguer in the modern era to record 15 home runs and 20 stolen bases in a season, reaching the milestone in just 60 games. By June 19, he became the first player to reach 20 home runs and 20 stolen bases in the 2025 season.
On July 2, 2025, Crow-Armstrong was named the National League’s starting center fielder for the All-Star Game after receiving more than 3 million votes. He continued his historic pace, becoming the fourth fastest player in major league history to reach at least 25 home runs and 25 stolen bases in a season. On September 26, 2025, Crow-Armstrong joined the exclusive 30-30 club with a two-run home run off Miles Mikolas of the St. Louis Cardinals. He became only the second player in Cubs history to record a 30-30 season, joining the legendary Sammy Sosa. He finished the 2025 season batting .247 with 31 home runs, 95 RBIs, 35 stolen bases, and an MLB-leading 12 sacrifice flies. Following the season, he was awarded his first career Gold Glove Award for National League center fielders and was named to the All-MLB Second Team.
Driving Style and Strengths
Crow-Armstrong is renowned for his exceptional combination of power and speed, a rare profile in modern baseball. His sprint speed ranks among the fastest in the sport, allowing him to turn singles into extra-base hits and threaten for inside-the-park home runs. Defensively, he is considered an elite center fielder with Gold Glove caliber range and arm strength. His baseball instincts and IQ set him apart, allowing him to impact games in multiple facets beyond traditional statistics.
Notable Events and Milestones
On June 15, 2026, Crow-Armstrong hit for the cycle against the Colorado Rockies, becoming the 13th player in Cubs franchise history to accomplish the feat. His 2025 season stands as his career-defining year, establishing him as one of the premier young players in baseball. The 30-30 club milestone and Gold Glove Award represent the culmination of years of development since his shoulder surgery in 2021.
Pete Crow-Armstrong Career Wins
Throughout his career, Crow-Armstrong has accumulated significant achievements across multiple levels of professional baseball, from youth tournaments to the major leagues.
Major League Baseball Highlights
At the MLB level, Crow-Armstrong has emerged as one of the most complete players in the National League. His 2025 season stands as his most decorated, featuring All-Star selection, Gold Glove Award, All-MLB Second Team honors, and a 30-30 season. In 2024, he recorded his first career inside-the-park home run and first career grand slam in 2025. Through June 25, 2026, he has accumulated 58 career home runs, 188 RBIs, and 82 stolen bases with a .251 batting average across parts of four MLB seasons.
Minor League and Amateur Achievements
Prior to his MLB success, Crow-Armstrong won the Midwest League championship with South Bend in 2022 and earned MiLB Gold Glove honors. In high school, he was named the Los Angeles Times Player of the Year in 2019. At the international level, he earned gold medals at the COPABE U-18 Pan-American Championships in 2018 and was named to the U-18 All-World Team during the 2019 U-18 Baseball World Cup, where he hit .364 and led Team USA to a silver medal.
Pete Crow-Armstrong Family
Family Background and Racing Lineage
Crow-Armstrong comes from a family with established credentials in the entertainment industry. His father, Matthew John Armstrong, and mother, Ashley Crow, are both professional actors. While neither parent has a direct connection to professional athletics, they supported their son’s development as a baseball player in the competitive youth sports environment of Los Angeles.
Personal Life
Outside of baseball, Crow-Armstrong has become known for his distinctive appearance, regularly bleaching his hair blond. Before the 2025 season, he added blue stars to his hair as part of his personal style. He has shown a playful side in clubhouse dynamics, famously losing a bet to Cubs president Jed Hoyer that resulted in changing his uniform number from 52 to 4. Crow-Armstrong remains close with his parents, who have followed his career from his days in Sherman Oaks Little League through his rise to MLB stardom.
2025 Season Performance
The 2025 season represented a breakthrough year for Crow-Armstrong, who entered the year as a promising young player and emerged as one of the elite talents in Major League Baseball. He became the first player to reach 20 home runs and 20 stolen bases in the 2025 season and was selected as the National League’s starting center fielder for the All-Star Game. His grand slam against the Cincinnati Reds and subsequent six-RBI games demonstrated his ability to deliver in high-pressure moments. At the All-Star break, he was hitting .265 with 25 home runs, 27 stolen bases, and 71 RBIs, putting him on pace for one of the most productive seasons in Cubs history.
Despite a challenging August where he batted .160 with limited power production, Crow-Armstrong bounced back to join the 30-30 club in late September. His season concluded with 31 home runs, 35 stolen bases, and 95 RBIs, along with an MLB-leading 12 sacrifice flies. The Cubs made the playoffs as the No. 4 seed, and while Crow-Armstrong’s postseason performance was modest, his regular-season accomplishments earned him Gold Glove and All-MLB Second Team recognition. His partnership with the Cubs’ coaching staff, including his development under the organization’s player development philosophy, has accelerated his growth into a franchise cornerstone.
The outlook for Crow-Armstrong remains exceptionally bright as he enters his prime years. At just 23 years old entering 2026, he has already accomplished what takes many players entire careers to achieve. His combination of defensive excellence in center field, game-changing speed, and developing power makes him one of the most valuable young players in baseball. With continued development and health, Crow-Armstrong is positioned to be a cornerstone of the Cubs’ competitive window for years to come.