Former pitcher Jack Armstrong, Jr - the 2011 3rd Round pick out of Vanderbilt - is giving up the mound in favor of first base starting this spring.
Armstrong signed for $750,000 and has yet to play in a minor-league game for the Astros after shoulder and elbow issues.
The moment I got cleared in September, I started swinging immediately.
It's been a good five or six months of hard work. It's good I was a
two-way guy in college so I was always swinging. ... It's something I
always wanted to do since I loved it so much, and I was pretty good at
it, and based on the circumstances because the arm has been through a
lot, it's nice to have something to fall back on and to keep playing
this game as long as you can.
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
