CLEVELAND — On Sunday, Shawn Armstrong will finish off the most fulfilling year of his career.
To say nothing of his pitching.
Along the way to being the unsung hero of the Rangers’ faceless bullpen, dominating right-handed hitters like no other pitcher in baseball, Armstrong has set full-season career-bests in innings, strikeouts, saves and WHIP. He’s also prepped, cooked, served and delivered meals at shelters and missions all across the American League.
It is part of his commitment to Big League Impact, a non-profit organization started by former St. Louis pitcher Adam Wainwright, which pairs athletes with causes to help provide basic needs in communities “in an effort to save lives, restore dignity, and instill hope.”
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In Armstrong’s case, there is also a financial contribution for each Rangers win and each of his own strikeouts to the JR98 Foundation, a Fort Worth-based non-profit centered on advocating for mental health named for the late Jean Ramirez, who attended Boswell High School and was later the Tampa Bay Rays bullpen catcher until his death by suicide in 2022.
And, yeah, to hear Armstrong tell it, there is a direct correlation between the work he’s put in off the field and what’s transpired on the field.
Perspective is a hell of a thing.
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A year ago, playing for a contract as he approached free agency for the first time, Armstrong slogged through perhaps the worst season since he broke in with Cleveland in 2015. He was traded once, designated for assignment twice and released before the season ended. More than any club official sitting him down and delivering bad news, it was his wife, Sarah, who was pregnant with the couple’s second child at the time, who delivered the most blunt wake-up call.
“I was not in a very good state of mind,” said Armstrong, who turned 35 on Sept. 11. “I put a lot of pressure on myself to have success. And she’s the rock, man. She just straight up said: ‘If you are going to be like this, I’m not going next year. I’m having another baby and we can’t have you being mentally unsafe, because it wears on me and it wears on the family.’
“Every outing that didn’t go my way, I would micromanage and I wasn’t the player or man I wanted to be. I was riding the emotional roller coaster of success and failure.”
The conversation landed. No, he didn’t get the contract he had been seeking. He barely got a major league contract at all, taking $1.125 million from the Rangers, which was the only major league deal he was offered. It represented a decrease of nearly half his $2 million deal in arbitration in 2024. And he may have only gotten it thanks to his tie to biomechanics guru Tyler Zombro and Rangers GM Ross Fenstermaker.
Rather than see the lack of interest as a rejection, Armstrong saw it as an opportunity. Not so much to restart, but to refresh. It’s not like Armstrong was ever an entitled top prospect. Growing up the son of a lumber worker in tiny Bridgeton, N.C., he mowed lawns to make money through high school, once memorably pitching on the same night he suffered what may have been a second-degree burn in a mower incident. He was an 18th round draft pick out of East Carolina. He’s dealt with real family hardship, his sister having fought drug addiction.
“When I got the offer from Texas, I told myself, I’m not even going to listen to other offers,” he said. “I had a wonderful organization interested in me. And I was going to go have fun and enjoy it. Whatever happens, happens. If it’s the last year, it’s the last year, but just be where your feet are. And then getting involved in Big League Impact and dealing with mental health, suicide prevention, it all just hit home. Enjoy the game. You never know when your last pitch is going to come. Enjoy what you are doing.”
When he joined the Rangers and sought a Big League Impact cause, he was alerted to JR98, founded by Ramirez’s parents Toni and Carlos. Armstrong saw it as a perfect fit. He’d briefly known Ramirez after coming to the Rays in 2021 towards the end of the season. He had seen how his teammates in Tampa Bay responded when he returned there in 2022. He’d met the Ramirez’s as they were dealing with their grief. And he was now in Texas.
Rangers’ Shawn Armstrong (right), Rangers’ staffer Josh Frasier (center) at the Franciscan Center of Baltimore.
Courtesy Photo: Shawn Armstrong
So, in addition to committing to the work that went with Big League Impact of volunteering at events at shelters and others community safe places throughout the season, Armstrong pledged $100 for every Rangers win and $10 for every strikeout. With 81 wins entering Saturday and Armstrong’s career-high 74 strikeouts, he’s pledged nearly $9,000 to JR98. The cash figure may not seem huge given MLB’s giant contracts, but know this: By percentage of his total compensation, it’s nearly twice as much as the $130,000 fundraiser held by Corey Seager this year, which is at the center of Seager’s nomination by the Rangers for the Roberto Clemente Award.
In addition, it has meant the world to Toni Ramirez. When Armstrong entered home games, there was no giant pyrotechnic display, but rather the JR98 Foundation messaging. It’s helped raise more awareness about the small family-run foundation, which has also led to more donations.
“He’s just a really amazing person,” Toni Ramirez, a second-grand teacher at West Birdville Academy said. “It was very moving that that he wanted to highlight what we are doing, but he’s just very passionate about helping the community. And it’s had a huge impact. Just the exposure alone has been huge.”
Armstrong has invited teammates to join him at his outings. Staffer Josh Frasier has been a regular. Fellow reliever Hoby Milner attended a couple. So have scattered other relievers and staff members.
Armstrong’s time commitment hit Milner, who also grew up in Fort Worth, hard.
“I’ve got to be honest,” he said. “After attending a couple of these and watching the work he puts in, I’m not sure I could do it. It’s a lot.”
But Armstrong has been gifted perspective. And it’s a hell of a thing.
“I’ve said to the guys here this year, if you ride the ups and downs of failures on that roller coaster for a 162-game season, you’re going to drive yourself nuts,” Armstrong said. “I did. I drove myself nuts. I made a commitment that this year that was not going to happen. No matter what.”
Instead, what has happened has been transformative for Armstrong the pitcher, but more importantly for Armstrong the person.
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