Mets take ‘magician’ outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong with their first pick

The New York Mets, lacking impact outfielders in their system, worked to erase that idea and drafted Harvard-Westlake star Pete Crow-Armstrong with their first-round pick, the 19th selection of Wednesday night.

Crow-Armstrong is famous in baseball circles for his defensive prowess in a crucial position: center field. He also brings to the table what are known as top-of-the-order, or leadoff, skills, which is the type of hitter that fits in nicely in the Mets’ system.

“All spring, I called him the left-handed magician in center field,” said Mets vice president of amateur scouting Tommy Tanous.

The New York Mets were able to scout Crow-Armstrong extensively in the fall and winter, and they began to fell in love with him. But according to Tanous, the real difference-maker was seeing him in batting practice.

However, it wasn’t his batting practice: while shagging balls in the outfield, Crow-Armstrong reportedly, and routinely, put on a show. He used to catch balls between his legs, for example.

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Tanous refers to Crow-Armstrong as “the easiest center fielder I’ve had a chance to scout,” especially praising his reads, hands and first-step quickness. Tramuta admires his “natural glide” and “ease.”

“It’s just different than everybody else,” the scouting director explained.

But make no mistake: Crow-Armstrong isn’t just a glove. The Mets see him as a top-of-the-order asset with lightning speed. MLB.com says that the outfielder “hit .514 as a senior for a Harvard-Westlake program that has produced three other first-rounders in Jack Flaherty, Lucas Giolito and Max Fried, as well as former Mets infielder Josh Satin. Crow-Armstrong struck out just once in 42 at-bats.”

He also fared well as a junior, hitting .426 with three home runs and five triples. Flaherty, Giolito and Fried routinely returned to Harvard-Westlake during offseasons and helped Crow-Armstrong a lot.

“They’ve always been super gracious with their time coming back,” Crow-Armstrong said. “Every time they come, they’re always incredibly open and willing to give advice. I’ve been super lucky to be able to interact with them over the last three, four years. Brief interactions … but pretty big impacts.”

All in all, the Mets are happy with their Day 1 pick.

“When the board is built, sometimes it takes care of itself. It stood out that we had to draft him. In this particular situation, he was a guy that we had targeted for months and months,” GM Brodie Van Wagenen said.