- Full name Jack William Armstrong
- Born 12/14/1989 in Jupiter, FL
- Profile Ht.: 6'7" / Wt.: 230 / Bats: R / Throws: R
- School Vanderbilt
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Drafted in the 3rd round (99th overall) by the Houston Astros in 2011 (signed for $750,000).
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Armstrong will be one of the draft's most interesting calls. The son of former big league pitcher Jack Armstrong, who was a first-round pick in 1987, Junior has really been a significant contributor only as a sophomore, going 7-4, 4.71 in 2010. He has performed well for two summers in the Cape Cod League, earning the No. 6 prospect spot in 2009 and No. 23 in 2010, and he was a preseason third-team All-American in 2010. He has jumbo size at 6-foot-7, 225 pounds, yet he's athletic enough to do standing backflips. Armstrong hasn't been fully healthy in 2011 and didn't start pitching until mid-March while battling back woes. He hasn't flashed the mid-90s stuff he showed as a freshman, though he has still worked in the low 90s and at his best has shown plenty of stuff against good competition. His best outing came in a loss as he threw four hitless innings against Florida, though he walked four and had more balls (38) than strikes (36). Armstrong throws a curveball and changeup that have their moments, but he's more of a physical athlete than a polished pitcher at this point. Signability will matter a great deal for a player who has been better in the past than he is in 2011.
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Armstrong's father started the All-Star Game for the National League in 1990, his lone winning season in an enigmatic big league career. Armstrong's college career at Vanderbilt was similarly puzzling, and the Astros hope he has more staying power as a pro after signing him for an over-slot $750,000 in the third round of the 2011 draft. He's physically gifted with athleticism and a monster frame. While he was dominant at times in the Cape Cod League in 2009, he was a starter for only one of his three seasons with the Commodores and pitched just 17 innings last spring while battling back problems. Armstrong's fastball can sit in the low 90s and has touched 97 mph in short stints. His hard curveball and his changeup have their moments, too, but he didn't use them as much in 2011 as he had in the past. Armstrong signed too late to pitch and wasn't healthy enough to pitch in games during instructional league games, instead working out in the bullpen. He has much more upside than the back-of-the-rotation college pitchers the Astros have drafted in recent years, such as Jake Buchanan and Dallas Keuchel, but he's far behind them in polish and health. Houston will handle him carefully in his pro debut, worrying more about keeping him on the mound than his level of competition.
