Shawn Armstong’s comments show just how revered Guardians’ pitching system is

There’s perhaps no organization in baseball that gets more out of their pitchers than the Cleveland Guardians. Sure, the Guardians may not spend a ton in free agency or develop power-hitting outfielders, but when it comes to developing pitchers they clearly stand alone. 

That reputation played out this offseason with reliever Shawn Armstrong, who inkeda one-year, $5.5 million contract with the Guardians in December.

While Armstrong’s decision to come to Cleveland made a ton of sense earlier this offseason because of his familiarity with the organization that drafted him in 2011, he recently told reporters in Arizona that Cleveland was one of his “top-three” free agent destinations because of that pitching factory. 

“It’s a testament to what they’ve done in the pitching development department that they have here,” Armstrong said last week, per Cleveland.com’s Joe Noga. “It’s always been really good since I was in this organization and competing against these guys over the last eight or nine years as well.”

Shawn Armstrong made it clear that he wanted to come to the Guardians in free agency 

Armstong’s quote was a bit of a different perspective for Guardians fans given how the offseason went. While there weren’t any free agents that explicitly said they didn’t want to play for the Guardians, the main story of the offseason was Cleveland’s inaction. 

They did bring multiple relievers into the fold, however, with Armstong’s signing serving as the icing on the cake. 

And part of the reason that Armstrong chose to be the final piece of the bullpen puzzle was Stephen Vogt, who has wasted no time making a quick impression in his first two-plus seasons as an MLB manager.

“Guys, not even on Cleveland, were like, ‘Man, you’re going to love Vogt. He’s a player’s coach,’” Armstrong said, per Noga. “Being able to have a manager that’s done it, he’s been there, he understands it. That’s a huge testament for a lot of guys.”

That player-first mentality is one of the biggest reasons why Armstrong has tallied back-to-back Manager of the Year awards, with the latest being won on the back of a fantastic late-season surge by the Guardians. 

Armstrong also said that pitching coach Carl Willis played a huge part in his wanting to come to Cleveland, which makes sense given that every pitcher who graces the home clubhouse at Progressive Field speaks highly of Willis’ acumen. 

The Guardians finished last season with the third-best bullpen ERA (3.44) despite not having Emmanuel Clase for the second half of the season.

It seems like Clase’s not going to come back any time soon (likely ever), which is why the Guardians spent so much of the offseason improving the unit. 

Armstrong’s the best arm of that unit, so we shouldn’t have to wait long to see him take the ball at some point in the Guardians’ season-opening series against the Mariners.