Cubs' Pete Crow-Armstrong Admits Rival Outfielder Is Better Than Him

Despite Chicago Cubs outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong being just 23 years old, many believe he is baseball's best defender. And many defensive stats would back this sentiment up.

One being that PCA — who did win a 2025 NL Gold Glove Award, along with Cubs teammates Ian Happ and Nico Hoerner — was tied for the league lead with 24 Outs Above Average (OAA), which, according to Baseball Savant, is "a range-based metric of fielding skill that accounts for the number of plays made and the difficulty of them."

The other player with a 24 OAA is Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr., who won the American League's Platinum Glove Award (which is given to the best defender in each league). Crow-Armstrong led baseball with 22 Runs Prevented, and no other player in MLB even reached 20.

The league's second-best Runs Prevented stat stemmed from Boston Red Sox center fielder (and 2025 AL Gold Glove Award winner) Ceddanne Rafaela, who had 19. Rafaela also had the second-most OAA among MLB outfielders, with 21.

Boston Red Sox outfielder Ceddanne Rafaela (3) before an August 22, 2025 game — Ceddanne Rafaela ( | Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images

However, stats only tell one side of the story. There's also the eye test, along with how an outfielder commands the space and navigates their teammates on either side.

Pete Crow-Armstrong Makes Surprising Ceddanne Rafaela Admission

Many baseball fans would say that PCA is the greatest outfielder when it comes to the eye test. But PCA himself seems to think this title belongs to Ceddanne Rafaela, which was shown in a recent interview he had that was published in a November 14 article by Chris Cotillo of MassLive.

“It’s his jumps in [center], and the fact that dude can play all nine positions is... I think he could have very easily won the utility [Gold Glove] award,” Crow-Armstrong said of Rafaela. “I’ve got a lot of admiration for someone that can go play shortstop and play center field and play second base and do it all on one weekend... If I’m gonna geek out over anybody and be like, ‘I just really like watching him play,’ it’s him."

When speaking about the Platinum Glove Awards (which were given to Fernando Tatis Jr. in the NL and Witt Jr. in the AL), PCA added, “The two dudes that won it are pretty damn good. If it wasn’t league-based, I would have given it to Ceddanne. I love watching him play center field. I think he’s the best in the game.”

Pete Crow-Armstrong says he would’ve given the Platinum Glove to Ceddanne Rafaela if it was up to him:

“The two dudes that won it are pretty damn good. If it wasn’t league-based, I would have given it to Ceddanne… I love watching him play center field. I think he’s the best in… pic.twitter.com/OPYJpGo7Vt
— Tyler Milliken (@tylermilliken_) November 14, 2025

"I really just appreciate how [Rafaela] plays baseball," PCA added. "I told him I'd like to see him year after year in New York for that Gold Glove event. Andruw Jones told us the same thing. I’d like to get used to doing it with him. I just love the way he plays.”

PCA calling Rafaela the best defender in the game is extremely high praise, given that many would give him this honor.

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