This isn’t about Pete Crow-Armstrong and his hair. A pic of that:
That is reason to not draft him, I’ll grant you that, but, no, it’s not why we’re here. It’s also reasonable to wonder if that hand on his back is the Thing from Addams Family with its nails done. It’s not, as far as I know. Not to be confused with Itt’s nails. Cousin Itt didn’t have hands. Itt had hair. Speaking of which, PCA’s hair is awful. I don’t consider myself a boomer. If you want to do things with your hair, by all means, go for it. What PCA did there? Hideous. I’m not even joking. Blue hair is like blue food. It shouldn’t exist unless it’s natural. Blueberries? Good. Blue raspberry? What godforsaken thing have you done to the wonderful raspberry? Blue hair on old people? Good. Blue hair dyed? That shizz ain’t cute. So, what can we expect from Pete Crow-Armstrong for 2026 fantasy baseball and what makes him overrated?
I had a debate with BDon on our first outfielders podcast (Yes, we had two outfielder pods — four hours of outfielders talk!). The debate was about a point I made in my top 20 outfielders rankings. I said that I felt better about James Wood than PCA for this year because Wood struggled with Ks, a new problem that can correct itself, and PCA struggled with garbage contact. Garbage contact is harder to fix, I argued. Look at the two side by side, Wood is first:
Garbage contact is harder to fix because if a guy doesn’t swing hard and hits weak-wristed doinks, he’s going to continue to do that. That’s his game. He’s not going to suddenly wake up and hit the ball hard. But can a guy wake up and strike out less when he has a good eye (look at Wood’s walks)? Yes, I’d argue that makes more sense. BDon didn’t agree, but who’s got the bully pulpit now? Natch!
It also doesn’t help Pete Crow-Armstrong’s chase rate is hideously awful. His Chase rate in 2024 was 41.4%, and it got worse in 2025; it was 41.7. That’s what you call hideous. To go back to the weak contact, how hard is it to piece this together: Guy swings at ball in dirt outside the zone, where is that ball going if he makes contact? A dribbler to 2nd. Chase rate isn’t the worst thing a hitter can do, but it’s close. Here’s the worst last year:
Can a hitter succeed like that? Well, there’s some okay names on that list, so sure, but none of those names are going anywhere near as high as PCA in drafts. If PCA were being drafted around 120 overall? Oh, I’d be interested. At 30 overall where he is going? Woof, dawg. He’s going in front of James Wood in some leagues! That’s crazy. He’s in front of Machado, Ketel, Cristopher Sanchez, well, some apples and oranges, but you get the picture. PCA has helium and it’s making me talk funny.
Look at his fellow Chase Rate chasers, and then scan to the left to EV. PCA is worse than Sal Perez, Michael Harris II and Yainer. I’m not saying those guys are better than him for fantasy, because PCA does have speed, but those guys are better hitters. PCA has a real chance to have a 12/16/.216 type season. Where did I get those stats from? Well, he went 6/8/.216 in the 2nd half last year, so I did a “just double his numbers.” That was with only a 25.6 K%. Again, I don’t think of that as a positive here. He’s not swinging and missing, he’s swinging and doinking that shizz to the 2nd baseman. At least with a guy like Michael Harris II, as you see above, he swings and misses or hits the ball hard. I’d prefer that!
Also, maybe you don’t know, but Pete Crow-Armstrong is a lefty. No fear of a platoon though, right? Say I am correct, so I can zap you in the head with this bug zapper! Say I am correct! Right?! Bzzt, wrongo! He hit .188 vs. lefties! I’d suggest he shouldn’t be facing them. So, Matt Shaw learns how to play outfield or Chas McCormick gets hot, and PCA is suddenly in a platoon. You’re paying top 30 overall for a guy who might be platooning by June, and can’t make good contact when he is hitting? That’s legit bizzonkers. Stamp this guy schmohawk and let someone else draft him. Please.
