There is one pitch of his that keeps getting hit
Contact off Armstrong's 4-seam fastball leaves the bat at 90.4 mph, against 84.1 off his sweeper.
194 and 176 of them thrown.
One pitch of his runs sideways more than almost anyone's
Armstrong's sinker moves 15.2 inches toward the third-base side, the biggest horizontal move in his arsenal.
107 thrown, averaging 93.7 mph.
This is the pitch he goes to when he needs the out
With two strikes Armstrong goes to the 4-seam fastball: 40.3% of his two-strike pitches, against 26.6% the rest of the time.
196 two-strike pitches in 2026.
He fills the strike zone and makes hitters beat him
Armstrong lives in the strike zone: 46.5% of his pitches are in it, 84th percentile.
200 pitches in 2026. 84th percentile among qualified pitchers in 2026, 88th in MLB.
One type of hitter does all the damage against him
Hitters do their damage on his fastballs: a .311 expected average against them, against .240 on his breaking balls.
137 of his fastballs thrown.
One pitch of his moves in a way hitters rarely see
Armstrong's 4-seam fastball carries 14.5 inches of ride against a spinless ball, the biggest vertical move in his arsenal.
194 thrown, averaging 93.5 mph.
Too much of the contact against him is loud
50% of the contact Armstrong gives up is hit hard, 12th percentile.
200 pitches in 2026. 12th percentile among qualified pitchers in 2026, 472nd in MLB.
His pitches move in ways that fit together
Armstrong works with 4 pitches: 4-Seam Fastball, Sweeper, Cutter and Sinker. The 4-seam fastball is 30.9% of everything he throws.
628 classified pitches in 2026.
When hitters connect off him, they hit it hard
Hitters average 90.9 mph off the bat against Armstrong, 17th percentile.
200 pitches in 2026. 17th percentile among qualified pitchers in 2026, 444th in MLB.
When he falls behind, hitters know exactly what is coming
Behind in the count Armstrong throws a fastball 81% of the time, against 70.3% when he is ahead.
163 pitches behind in the count, 182 ahead.
He saves one pitch for one side of the plate
Armstrong throws the 4-seam fastball 38.8% of the time against left-handers and 23.2% against right-handers.
319 pitches to right-handers, 309 to left-handers.
The angle he throws from is unusual, and hitters notice
Armstrong releases the ball from a low three-quarters slot, about 43 degrees above horizontal and 1.5 feet to the third-base side of the rubber.
628 tracked release points, averaging 5.7 feet off the ground.
The contact he allows should not turn into many hits
The quality of contact against Armstrong projects a .294 average, 81st percentile.
200 pitches in 2026. 81st percentile among qualified pitchers in 2026, 104th in MLB.
He lives on one side of the plate
Armstrong works in on right-handers: his average pitch lands 1.7 inches to that side of the middle of the plate.
628 located pitches in 2026.
One pitch of his spins more than almost anyone's
Armstrong's sweeper spins at 2,567 rpm, the highest in his arsenal.
176 thrown in 2026.
He throws strikes to one type of hitter and not the other
Armstrong lands 49.6% of his fastballs in the zone and only 39.7% of his breaking balls.
137 of his fastballs, 63 of his breaking balls.
How much of the zone he uses depends on the count
Armstrong puts 58.3% of his pitches in the zone when he is behind and 47.3% when he is ahead.
163 located pitches behind, 182 ahead.
He gets so far down the mound the ball arrives early
Armstrong releases the ball 6.6 feet down the mound, so the ball arrives sooner than the radar gun suggests.
590 tracked pitches in 2026.
His ball moves more than the hitter expects it to
Armstrong's stuff spins at 2,318 rpm, 61st percentile in the league.
200 pitches in 2026. 61st percentile among qualified pitchers in 2026, 212th in MLB.
The gap between his pitches is what makes them work
9.3 mph separates Armstrong's sinker from his sweeper, 93.7 against 84.5.
107 and 176 of them respectively.
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The numbers behind these live in Pitch Data.
Take me there
There is one pitch of his that keeps getting hit
Contact off Armstrong's 4-seam fastball leaves the bat at 90.4 mph, against 84.1 off his sweeper.
194 and 176 of them thrown.
His pitches move in ways that fit together
Armstrong works with 4 pitches: 4-Seam Fastball, Sweeper, Cutter and Sinker. The 4-seam fastball is 30.9% of everything he throws.
628 classified pitches in 2026.
He saves one pitch for one side of the plate
Armstrong throws the 4-seam fastball 38.8% of the time against left-handers and 23.2% against right-handers.
319 pitches to right-handers, 309 to left-handers.
One pitch of his spins more than almost anyone's
Armstrong's sweeper spins at 2,567 rpm, the highest in his arsenal.
176 thrown in 2026.
The gap between his pitches is what makes them work
9.3 mph separates Armstrong's sinker from his sweeper, 93.7 against 84.5.
107 and 176 of them respectively.
The numbers behind these live in Pitch Data.
Take me there
One pitch of his runs sideways more than almost anyone's
Armstrong's sinker moves 15.2 inches toward the third-base side, the biggest horizontal move in his arsenal.
107 thrown, averaging 93.7 mph.
One pitch of his moves in a way hitters rarely see
Armstrong's 4-seam fastball carries 14.5 inches of ride against a spinless ball, the biggest vertical move in his arsenal.
194 thrown, averaging 93.5 mph.
The numbers behind these live in Pitch Data.
Take me there
This is the pitch he goes to when he needs the out
With two strikes Armstrong goes to the 4-seam fastball: 40.3% of his two-strike pitches, against 26.6% the rest of the time.
196 two-strike pitches in 2026.
When he falls behind, hitters know exactly what is coming
Behind in the count Armstrong throws a fastball 81% of the time, against 70.3% when he is ahead.
163 pitches behind in the count, 182 ahead.
How much of the zone he uses depends on the count
Armstrong puts 58.3% of his pitches in the zone when he is behind and 47.3% when he is ahead.
163 located pitches behind, 182 ahead.
The numbers behind these live in Pitch Data.
Take me there
He fills the strike zone and makes hitters beat him
Armstrong lives in the strike zone: 46.5% of his pitches are in it, 84th percentile.
200 pitches in 2026. 84th percentile among qualified pitchers in 2026, 88th in MLB.
The numbers behind these live in Pitch Data.
Take me there
One type of hitter does all the damage against him
Hitters do their damage on his fastballs: a .311 expected average against them, against .240 on his breaking balls.
137 of his fastballs thrown.
He throws strikes to one type of hitter and not the other
Armstrong lands 49.6% of his fastballs in the zone and only 39.7% of his breaking balls.
137 of his fastballs, 63 of his breaking balls.
The numbers behind these live in Spray Chart.
Take me there
Too much of the contact against him is loud
50% of the contact Armstrong gives up is hit hard, 12th percentile.
200 pitches in 2026. 12th percentile among qualified pitchers in 2026, 472nd in MLB.
When hitters connect off him, they hit it hard
Hitters average 90.9 mph off the bat against Armstrong, 17th percentile.
200 pitches in 2026. 17th percentile among qualified pitchers in 2026, 444th in MLB.
The contact he allows should not turn into many hits
The quality of contact against Armstrong projects a .294 average, 81st percentile.
200 pitches in 2026. 81st percentile among qualified pitchers in 2026, 104th in MLB.
The numbers behind these live in Pitch Data.
Take me there
The angle he throws from is unusual, and hitters notice
Armstrong releases the ball from a low three-quarters slot, about 43 degrees above horizontal and 1.5 feet to the third-base side of the rubber.
628 tracked release points, averaging 5.7 feet off the ground.
He gets so far down the mound the ball arrives early
Armstrong releases the ball 6.6 feet down the mound, so the ball arrives sooner than the radar gun suggests.
590 tracked pitches in 2026.
The numbers behind these live in Pitch Data.
Take me there
He lives on one side of the plate
Armstrong works in on right-handers: his average pitch lands 1.7 inches to that side of the middle of the plate.
628 located pitches in 2026.
The numbers behind these live in Pitch Data.
Take me there
His ball moves more than the hitter expects it to
Armstrong's stuff spins at 2,318 rpm, 61st percentile in the league.
200 pitches in 2026. 61st percentile among qualified pitchers in 2026, 212th in MLB.
Guardians