The Mets are confident that what they see in first-round draft pick Pete Crow-Armstrong is no illusion.
The 18-year-old high school outfielder may arguably be the best defensive outfielder in the entire 2020 MLB Draft – and he has the bat and makeup to check all the boxes for the Mets, who took him with the 19th overall pick on Wednesday night.
“All spring I called him ‘the left-handed magician’ in center field,” Mets scouting director Tommy Tanuous told reporters on a conference call Wednesday night, per SNY. “He was one of the rare players where you would watch batting practice and watch him play defense. … When I see a defensive player who likes to show their tools and likes to show off like that in pregame while he’s getting his work done, I know you have a pretty advanced defensive player.”
Crow-Armstrong enterd the draft as the No. 7 outfield prospect and No. 20 overall prospect by Baseball Pipeline, but he also missed the opportunity to boost his stock – as did many prospects – by losing his senior season after10 games due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Still, the Harvard-Westlake High School (CA) product has been a four-time member of the Team USA Junior National Team and has been on the radar of MLB teams for a while.
“Pete stood out because he was so far up the board that regardless of position, regardless of college, high school, pitcher, it didn’t matter,” Mets GM Brodie Van Wagenen said on a Zoom call, per SNY. “… He was a guy that we had targeted for months and months.”
While Crow-Armstrong is lauded for his defense, Tanuous and Van Wagenen both love his potential at the plate as well.
“We see Pete as a top-of-the-order type hitter,” Tanuous said. “He has such advanced bat-to-ball skills. … High contact guy, with some power behind it. And it’s been increasing power since he was 15 years old. He keeps getting stronger. … On top of that, he’s a little bit faster than your average player. He’s gonna be able to leg out hits and at the same time drive the ball into the gap. He has a lot of weapons on his side.”
Van Wagenen added that Crow-Armstrong “had one of the best swings in the draft,” but what really stood out to the Mets general manager was that the 18-year-old already has the makeup and maturity he believes would make him successful in the media spotlight of the New York market.
“We want players who aren’t afraid to show emotion on the field. Pete is one of those guys,” Van Wagenen said. “ … He knows how to play in front of the spotlight. He’s one of those kids that’s been on the national radar screen since he was 12 years old. … He’s been a big fish in a big pond for a long time and I think his personality and his confidence will play very well in New York City.”