White Sox' catcher impressing Guillen
TUCSON, Ariz. -- Cole Armstrong is not really sure where he's heading with the White Sox this spring, but he sure is enjoying the ride.
"It's been a good start so far,'' said Armstrong, a 24-year-old catcher. "I wasn't really expecting this, but I'll take it when I can.''
The Sox' offense was hitting .390 before Sunday's split-squad games against the Arizona Diamondbacks, and no one was hotter than Armstrong.
In his first 4 at-bats, the 6-foot-3, 210-pounder has 2 doubles, a triple and a single. Armstrong also drove in 2 runs while making a huge impression on Sox manager Ozzie Guillen.
"You look at the kid Cole Armstrong, I like him a lot,'' Guillen said. "A lot. We talk about him. The more I see Armstrong, the more I like him.''
Armstrong was added to the White Sox' 40-man roster in late November after batting a combined .278 with 23 doubles, 13 home runs and 51 RBI in 102 games with Class A Winston-Salem and AA Birmingham last season.
The Surrey, British Columbia, native arrived at training camp and was assigned No. 63. That's usually a sure sign of a short stay, but Armstrong is making the most of his opportunity.
"You just want to make a good impression every time you step on the field,'' said Armstrong, who was originally drafted by the Atlanta Braves before being claimed by the Sox in the 2005 Rule 5 minor-league draft.
"The whole reason we all play this game is to get to the major-league level. And being in big-league camp, you get a chance to play in front of the manager and all of the coaches on a daily basis. Just go out there and let it all hang out on the field and hopefully it works out for the best.''
The White Sox have an established No. 1 catcher in A.J. Pierzynski, and veteran Toby Hall is back in a reserve role.
Hall, however, has yet to play this spring as he continues trying to make a full recovery from a dislocated right shoulder. Hall has been hampered by the injury since last March, but he is expected to be on the field within the next week or so.
Should the injury linger, at least the Sox have options. In addition to Armstrong, Donny Lucy is going to get a look, and so is Paul Phillips, who spent some time with the Kansas City Royals in each of the last four seasons.
"You're going to see Phillips have more of an opportunity because you don't know what's going to happen with Toby,'' Guillen said. "We hope Toby is going to be healthy all year long, but I really like (Armstrong and Phillips). Lucy is in the battle. Armstrong, Lucy and Phillips have a job to do and impress me and our coaching staff that we can count on them.''
The way Armstrong has been swinging the bat during the first week of the Cactus League, it sure seems like he played in the Arizona Fall League or winter ball. Not quite.
Trying to get ready for the season back home in Vancouver, Armstrong became frustrated with frequent "dumping.''
"That's when it snows overnight, and then it rains and then it's slush and then it's gone,'' Armstrong said. "We got about six dumps of snow when I was home. It's not like Chicago, where it takes the snow a long time to melt. It's just a mess in Vancouver, so I had to get out of there.''
Armstrong spent more than a month in Baltimore working on his swing before heading to his old junior college (Chipola) in Florida.
Now that he's in Arizona, Armstrong is putting it all together at just the right time.
"Hopefully, my swing stays consistent and everything keeps going like it has,'' Armstrong said. "I have no idea where I'm going to end up; that's up to the front office. They make the decisions and I'll just go where they send me.''