Shawn Armstrong calls coming back to the Cleveland Guardians after nearly a decade after his MLB debut, "cool."
The Cleveland Guardians are bringing back a new, but familiar face to the organization for the 2025 season. The team announced a few days ago that they had signed RHP Shawn Armstrong to a one-year deal with a mutual option for a second season.
Armstrong may be 35 years old now and has bounced around the league, logging respectable, strong stats at each of his stops, but the right-hander at one point was one of the more promising pitchers in Cleveland’s farm system all the way back when he debuted in 2015.
When Armstrong talked about what brought him back to Cleveland, he noted in a recent interview that, “going up there and you're doing the physical part, and, you know, talking with the front office and training staff, and, you know, besides, two or three guys, it's everybody that was there from when I was drafted, when I debuted, when I was traded away.”
A player reuniting with the same group and front office that was traded could rub them the wrong way, but that’s not how Armstrong felt at all about coming back to Cleveland for a second stint.
Apr 8, 2017; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Cleveland Indians pitcher Shawn Armstrong against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images“It's pretty cool to see that training staff and the front office and, you know, sit down and talk with them and, you know, going from a, younger guy coming up to a little bit older and understanding myself and, just having conversations with them it was pretty cool to go back there and see kind of all the changes and everything they've made there,” said the veteran pitcher.
The right-hander is coming off a phenomenal season with the Texas Rangers, where he logged a 2.31 ERA, 0.811 WHIP, including nine saves.
These stats perfectly demonstrate the growth Armstrong has made since he debuted in Cleveland, and the development he’s made at each of his stops along the way.
Armstrong is bound to have a different role in Cleveland than he did almost 10 years ago. During his first stint with the team, he was viewed more as a long relief pitcher who came in low-leverage moments. Still, Armstrong registered a 3.53 ERA and a 1.246 WHIP in 39 appearances from 2015-2017.
Now, Armstrong will have a role as one of the team’s high-leverage and setup arms for what has the potential to be one of the best reliever cores in MLB.