![\"Nick](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/AMW2BIQOFUPNW5JZE5T3NF5LPM.jpg\")
Nick Yorke, who the Red Sox selected in the first round of the 2020 MLB draft, has played 40 MLB games for the Pirates this season.Julio Cortez\/Associated Press<\/p>\nCrow-Armstrong came off the board two picks later, going to the Mets at No. 19.<\/p>\n
In hindsight, the Sox\u2019 selection looks like a head-scratcher. But they weren\u2019t alone in missing on their evaluation of Crow-Armstrong. Not only did 17 other teams pass on the center fielder, but the Mets traded him to the Cubs in 2022 for rental shortstop Javier B\u00e1ez and pitcher Trevor Williams.<\/p>\n
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So where did the Sox \u2014 and other teams \u2014 err with Crow-Armstrong?<\/p>\n
As a high school player at Harvard-Westlake (Calif.) and as an underclassman on both Team USA and the national showcase circuit, Crow-Armstrong was electrifying. He was an elite defensive center fielder whose speed and bat-to-ball skills suggested a table-setter. In the summer of 2019, Baseball America \u2014 in its wonderfully titled \u201cWay Too Early\u201d 2020 mock draft \u2014 projected Crow-Armstrong as the No. 3 pick for 2020.<\/p>\n
But Crow-Armstrong struggled on the showcase circuit in the summer of 2019, posting a concerning swing-and-miss rate. That performance amplified questions about his swing mechanics and how much power he could produce from his wiry 6-foot frame. Concerns grew that he might be a glove-first fourth outfielder or average everyday center fielder rather than an above-average player.<\/p>\n
While Crow-Armstrong had a strong start to the season as a high school senior, that 2020 campaign was truncated by the COVID-19 shutdown. So with Crow-Armstrong, Yorke, and virtually every player in the draft, there was a major shortage of information, forcing teams to project players\u2019 paths based on an unusually incomplete breadcrumb trail.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you wanted to say that 2020 draft was unlike anything we hopefully will ever experience again, I think you\u2019re not wrong,\u201d said Sox amateur scouting director Jake Bruml, who in 2020 was working as an assistant in both amateur and pro scouting, taking part in draft preparations for the first time. \u201cWe essentially weren\u2019t provided a full year of baseball, and arguably the most important year \u2013 the platform seasons. It made what is already an incredibly difficult job that much harder.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to a cross-section of accounts, the Sox gave varying levels of first-round consideration to high school position players Crow-Armstrong and Tyler Soderstrom, Louisville righthander Bobby Miller, and UCLA outfielder Garrett Mitchell.<\/p>\n
Nick Yorke, who the Red Sox selected in the first round of the 2020 MLB draft, has played 40 MLB games for the Pirates this season.Julio Cortez\/Associated Press<\/p>\n
Though a number of mock drafts had tied the Sox to Crow-Armstrong with their first-round pick, atop the Sox\u2019 wishlist at No. 17 were two high school infielders: Yorke and Illinois high school shortstop Ed Howard, a gifted defender with projectable offensive upside.<\/p>\n
The Sox believed Yorke had special offensive traits, particularly in his swing decisions, and had seen hints of emerging power in his senior season (before the COVID shutdown) to conclude that he was on an upward arc that, in a normal year, would have made him a first-round selection.<\/p>\n
The Sox were aware other teams didn\u2019t share that view. But after the Cubs took Howard at No. 18, the Sox saw an opportunity to take a player they\u2019d scouted heavily and loved in Yorke and sign him to a below-slot bonus, thus permitting the team to spend more on other picks. Such a strategy had considerable appeal to the club in a year where it didn\u2019t have a second-round pick, the result of MLB\u2019s punishment of the Sox for electronic sign-stealing in 2018.<\/p>\n
Obviously, the risk did not yield the hoped-for reward. While Yorke had a remarkable first pro season in 2021<\/a> that initially validated the pick, he\u2019s struggled to deliver consistent results. In 2024, the Sox traded him to the Pirates for pitcher Quinn Priester (subsequently dealt to the Brewers for a package that included pitching prospect John Holobetz and a draft pick).<\/p>\n Though Yorke has reached the big leagues (seven players from that draft haven\u2019t, including Howard), in parts of three major league seasons, he has a sub-.600 OPS and a negative career WAR. He\u2019s now shuttling between the infield and outfield corners for the Pirates.<\/p>\n Crow-Armstrong, meanwhile, has not only dispelled any fears about his offensive profile but vastly exceeded his perceived ceiling \u2014 especially this year. Part of the reason for his 2026 breakout? A challenge from Cubs (and former Red Sox) third baseman Alex Bregman when Crow-Armstrong struggled with a hyper-aggressive approach at the start of the year.<\/p>\n \u201cBasically, we just played a game with each other. If you say you\u2019re looking for a fastball middle-in, you\u2019re only allowed to swing at that [before two strikes],\u201d Crow-Armstrong said at the All-Star Game. \u201cEverything else is shut down. It was really good for my eyes. \u2026 I started walking after that, and it was kind of interesting to see such an immediate change. He\u2019s got a lot of cool insight as to who he is as a hitter and how he can let that seep into what I do.\u201d<\/p>\n And on Friday, Crow-Armstrong will have a chance to showcase his talents at Fenway \u2014 a reminder of how decisions made on players as amateurs and minor leaguers can shape organizations for years to follow.<\/p>\n Alex Speier can be reached at alex.speier@globe.com<\/a>. Follow him @alexspeier<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"Former](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Z425A6MUKVG55AXLAVALOC3INM.jpg\")
Former Red Sox third baseman Alex Bregman has helped mentor Pete Crow-Armstrong in his first season with the Cubs.Michael Reaves\/Getty<\/p>\n