Cubs announce Minor League player and pitcher of the month |
CHICAGO – The Chicago Cubs today named Single-A Myrtle Beach outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong as the organization’s minor league player of the month for April, while Myrtle Beach right-handed pitcher Porter Hodge was named the club’s minor league pitcher of the month.
Crow-Armstrong, 20, hit .375 (24-for-64), tops among all Cubs’ minor leaguers in April, with four doubles, one triple, three home runs, 13 RBI, seven stolen bases, a .474 on-base percentage and a .609 slugging percentage, contributing to a 1.083 OPS. The left-handed hitting outfielder recorded at least one hit in each of his last eight games to end the month, including seven multi-hit efforts, hitting .500 (17-for-34) during that span. Crow-Armstrong notched five multi-RBI games and homered in back-to-back outings on April 19-20 at Delmarva. Ranked as the Cubs’ No. 6 prospect entering the season by MLB Pipeline, the six-foot tall Crow-Armstrong was acquired by the Cubs from the Mets July 30, 2021 for infielder Javier Báez and right-handed pitcher Trevor Williams. In his first 23 career minor league games, Crow-Armstrong has posted a .391 average (36-for-92) with six doubles, one triple, three home runs and 13 RBI. He was selected in the first round (19th overall) of the 2020 draft by the Mets, but missed a majority of the 2021 season after suffering a torn right labrum. Hodge, 21, last month went 2-0 with a 1.56 ERA (3 ER/17.1 IP), six walks and 21 strikeouts in four starts with Myrtle Beach. The right-handed pitcher posted a .167 opponent’s average (10-for-60) to go along with a 0.92 WHIP. The six-foot four-inch Hodge has held opponents scoreless in three of his four starts and has tossed 10.0 consecutive scoreless innings in his last two outings (5.0 IP in each). The right-handed pitcher has struck out at least four batters in all four of his starts. A 13th round draft pick in 2019 by the Cubs, Hodge is 4-3 with a 5.33 ERA (45 ER/76.0 IP) with 89 strikeouts in 23 games (18 starts) during his minor league career. Since the start of the 2021 season, he is 3-1 with a 2.77 ERA (12 ER/39.0 IP) and an average of 11.5 strikeouts per 9.0 innings (50 SO/39.0 IP). The Salt Lake City, Utah, native graduated from Cottonwood Senior High School in Murray, Utah, and was committed to the University of Utah prior to signing with the Cubs.
