Pete Crow-Armstrong and His Cards are Taking Off
For the Chicago Cubs, who have not made the post-season since 2020, the future may finally be now. The NL Central-leading team is only 14-10 on the year, but have an MLB-best +41 run differential and have been emboldened by the start of recently acquired star Kyle Tucker and feature a balanced offensive lineup that has already seen 9 Cubs drive in 10 runs or more.
One highlight of the season so far has been the breakhrough of 23-year old outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong. The 19th overall draft pick in the 2020 draft, Crow-Armstrong has risen quickly through the ranks. His ability at the plate, in Center Field and on the base paths have made him a fan favorite at Wrigley. A key cog with a bright future in a valued outfield position, Crow-Armstrong has unsurprisingly seen his card market rise right along with his reputation in the Windy City.
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Crow-Armstrong did not come out of nowhere. The outfielder ranked 16th on MLB Pipeline's Top 100 prospects, and he's performed extremely well everywhere he's been. The top sale of a Crow-Armstrong card at writing is $10,099 in October 2024. However, a closer look at the top-end sales of the young star show he's getting a bit more respect from collectors.
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This PSA 10 2020 1st Bowman Auto /25 sold for $8,000 last week. In fact, four of the top seven sales of all-time have come since March 30. A PSA 10 of this card sold for just over $6,000 only 12 days before the most recent sale.
There have been 300 Crow-Armstrong sales of $200 or more since March 1, per Card Ladder. 53 of those have come in the last week alone. This 2024 Topps Heritage sold for $220 on April 22.
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April has seen 12 four-figure Crow-Armstrong sales, including this 2025 Topps Baseball Series 1 MLB Tokyo Series Murakami Auto /25, mentioned in this piece yesterday, that sold for $1,300. It's the highest sale of a Cubs card from the set so far. Only Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts cards have sold for more.
Crow-Armstong's strong start to the year bodes well for him and his collectors. He showed flashes of potential in a solid rookie season, in which he stole 27 bases in 123 games, but he's taken his game to another level this year. 24 hits in 24 games, 8 stolen bases, while showing improvement in Batting Average, On Base Percentage, and Slugging Percentage. His WAR of 1.2 over 24 games is have his total of 2.4 in 123 games last year. In the field, his DWAR last year was 1.6 in 117 games. It sits at 0.5 through two-dozen games so far this time round.
As with any young prospect, there's much more work to be done, but Crow-Armstrong has certainly given collectors many reasons to trust his performance and potential this season. If a franchise as popular as the Cubs can stay near the top of the game, the young star will find himself in big spots this season, and be given every opportunity to keep introducing himself to The Hobby.
Michael Terry is a writer based in Brooklyn. He specializes in sports, culture, and collecting. His work has appeared at Topps RIPPED, ESPN, Grantland, Vice Sports, and more.