Pete Outdoing His Best Devin Hester Impression

[profisme]

Prime Mike Trout perhaps?

[Rcal10]

31 minutes ago, profisme said:

Prime Mike Trout perhaps?

Pretty lofty goal. Love if he was prime Trout. But I think k that’s an overreach.

[Thurman Merman]

Early Barry bonds is probably the best comp.

[PeanutPunch33]

2 hours ago, Rcal10 said:

Which means he is nothing like Harper. Honestly I don’t know who he can be compared to. If he actually keeps his average in the .275 level or higher, walks 10% of the time and is a 30/30 guy along with GG defense I can’t think of a guy like him. 
Maybe Bobby Bonds? He hit 30+ homers, stole 30+ bases, hit around that .275 mark, walked a fair amount and won several GG. Seems to have had a similar game as PCA is showing. 

Honestly at this point, it's time to compare the kid to Mike Trout.  Maybe a shave less as a hitter, but on a different planet as a defensive player.  In the end, he could just be so unique that there is no comparison.  

[Rcal10]

39 minutes ago, Thurman Merman said:

Early Barry bonds is probably the best comp.

Best comparison is Bobby Bonds. 

[Geographyhater8888]

Pete is his own brand of great. I see a smidge of Carlson’s Beltran with kevin kiermaiers glove and you can toss in a few other players, which makes a ballpark 1:1 comparison impossible.
 

He’s 4th in war since August of 2024 at 12.6 with a 124 wRC+.

Edited July 7 by Geographyhater8888

[Rcal10]

14 hours ago, Geographyhater8888 said:

Pete is his own brand of great. I see a smidge of Carlson’s Beltran with kevin kiermaiers glove and you can toss in a few other players, which makes a ballpark 1:1 comparison impossible.
 

He’s 4th in war since August of 2024 at 12.6 with a 124 wRC+.

I think your right. There really is no one like him. If he actually hits .270-.290 while walking 75 times a year, hits 30 homers and steals 30 bases, wins multiple GG and a few platinum gloves, there is no player who compares to that in baseball today. 

[Tryptamine]

A very long way to go, but that PCA vs Baez deal has the makings of one that could go down as one of the most lopsided trades of the last few decades.

[squally1313]

He's kinda just mimicking the beginning of Andruw Jones' career right? It's a different era so Pete gets more credit for his offense (in his age 24 season he's putting up a .910 OPS which is good for a 150 wRC, in Jones' age 23 season he put up a .907 OPS good for a 127 wRC), but also Jones got more credit for his defense. I haven't really found anyone who's a better comparison but I think that's pretty close when you factor in how few players get to this level of play. 

[We Got The Whole 9]

The Trout comp isn't that far fetched. Or maybe Jose Ramirez who strikes out more.

[Jason Ross]

I said this on the podcast last week, but I'll say this: we are getting to a point where the reference point to what Pete Crow-Armstrong is doing right now isn't anyone other than...himself. Like, this is 1:1 type stuff. You can squint and see X or Y, but really? Pete's comp might just be...Pete for a lack of a better way to say it. 

Once you get in rarified air it's tough to find a comp.

[Rcal10]

26 minutes ago, Jason Ross said:

I said this on the podcast last week, but I'll say this: we are getting to a point where the reference point to what Pete Crow-Armstrong is doing right now isn't anyone other than...himself. Like, this is 1:1 type stuff. You can squint and see X or Y, but really? Pete's comp might just be...Pete for a lack of a better way to say it. 

Once you get in rarified air it's tough to find a comp.

I’m sticking with Bonds. His career numbers were .268/.353/.471. Career homers of 332 and SB of 471. Had over 7000 AB. PCA is trending towards those numbers. Bonds also won 3 GG. What makes PCA better than Bonds is he is doing it in an era harder to hit than when Bonds played. Bobby Bonds was a very good player but never a superstar. But those numbers today would be superstar totals. Instead of a normal season with those totals posting a 4+ WAR back when Bonds played, it would be a 7 or 8 WAR today. PCA and Bonds are very similar, but I think PCA is better than him. Or at the very least, with similar stats will be more valuable. A .270 today is way more impressive than a 270 hitter in the 60’s and 70’s. As you said, those numbers with PCA’s speed and defense put him in rarified air. I think years from now people may be comparing young stars to PCA. 

[We Got The Whole 9]

Willie Mays

[Rcal10]

13 minutes ago, We Got The Whole 9 said:

Willie Mays

No pressure there🤢

[squally1313]

16 minutes ago, We Got The Whole 9 said:

Willie Mays

Which is ironic because a little over a year ago we were probably looking at Willie 'Mays' Hayes 

[Rcal10]

4 minutes ago, squally1313 said:

Which is ironic because a little over a year ago we were probably looking at Willie 'Mays' Hayes 

I just hope the PCA we are seeing now is the real deal. Not necessarily going to put up the numbers he has the last 6 weeks. But I mean the patience, the laying off bad pitches. If he is a guy who can really post OPS+ of 130 he is a superstar, top 5 player in the game. Who cares who that compares to. As Jason said, it would be rarified air.

[We Got The Whole 9]

That catch at the wall broke the record for 5-star catches. In essentially less than 2 full years LOL

[Bertz]

Not the primary thrust of this article, but good lord these ZiPS projections for PCA.

ZiPS has Ohtani and Witt at around 32 WAR over the next five years, PCA and McGonigle at 30, and then a sizable gap before you hit Wood/Caminero/etc. around 25.

[mul21]

15 minutes ago, Bertz said:

Not the primary thrust of this article, but good lord these ZiPS projections for PCA.

ZiPS has Ohtani and Witt at around 32 WAR over the next five years, PCA and McGonigle at 30, and then a sizable gap before you hit Wood/Caminero/etc. around 25.

It wouldn't surprise me if PCA ends up closer to 40 WAR than 30 from '27-'31.

[Rob]

On 7/7/2026 at 2:53 PM, Jason Ross said:

I said this on the podcast last week, but I'll say this: we are getting to a point where the reference point to what Pete Crow-Armstrong is doing right now isn't anyone other than...himself. Like, this is 1:1 type stuff. You can squint and see X or Y, but really? Pete's comp might just be...Pete for a lack of a better way to say it. 

Once you get in rarified air it's tough to find a comp.

Best comp I can think of is Andruw Jones in his 20s.

Transcendent defense. 30+ HR power. 20+ steals. Strikes out a bit more than average. Fluctuating walk rate that's sometimes pretty good.

There's also ways to tweak a Mike Cameron comp to make it work pretty well.

[BKHoo]

On 6/26/2026 at 9:34 AM, We Got The Whole 9 said:

We all know Pete is an otherworldly defensive outfielder, making absurdly hard catches look easy. We also know that Kevin Kiermaier is the gold standard for value-provided in the Statcast era. He is the all-time leader in 5-star catches, accumulated over a 9-year span since 2015.

 

Devin Hester put up an astonishing 11 return TDs in his first 2 seasons, not including the Super Bowl (or another in which a BS penalty got called on the Bears and cost him another TD) and setting the career record was basically an inevitability after that.

 

Well PCA is already tied with Kiermaier for career 5-star catches, in 2.5 seasons! Hester's legendary feat is really the only achievement among the 4 major sports I can think of that comes close to this feat, without going back to Babe Ruth out-homering the entire league by himself. He's setting an insurmountable bar. We are so blessed to have him. Cherish this dude and all the foibles that might come with his game. 

 

 

He is a Jedi.  
 

I did not even realize he is as good as these stats say.  

[We Got The Whole 9]

2 hours ago, Bertz said:

Not the primary thrust of this article, but good lord these ZiPS projections for PCA.

ZiPS has Ohtani and Witt at around 32 WAR over the next five years, PCA and McGonigle at 30, and then a sizable gap before you hit Wood/Caminero/etc. around 25.

Been waiting for this. I thought he had an outside shot at #1 but I honestly figured he'd be #2.

 

Since 5/22 he's now 6th in walk rate in MLB! Like if he's a top 10-15 guy over a season in walk rate - holy horsefeathers. You're hard pressed to find anyone better. 

[Tryptamine]

He's just destroying everyone. He's almost lapping the guy with the 10th highest fWAR this year.