It would be so easy for Shawn Armstrong to have stewed with every passing day he was stuck at Triple-A Tacoma, dominating hitters so much that he earned a spot in the Triple-A All-Star Game.
By the time the Mariners finally selected Armstrong to make his Mariners debut on Aug. 28, he had gone 25 of 26 outings with the Rainiers without allowing a run, was 14-for-14 in save opportunities and had a 0.66 ERA in that span.
Over almost 50 Triple-A appearances, Armstrong had 82 strikeouts in 56 innings pitched. That shouts big-league worthy, especially since he’d pitched in parts of the past three seasons as part of a stacked Cleveland Indians’ bullpen.