'You've got to move on': Armstrong flushing tough inning

ST. PETERSBURG -- Shawn Armstrong typically wastes no time reviewing his performance. After walking off the mound, the Rays reliever will rewatch his outing two or three times on an iPad in the dugout. Good or bad, he wants to see it again and log it in his notebook.

He needed a little more time to process what happened Saturday at Tropicana Field.

The right-hander had the worst outing of his career in the Rays’ 8-1 loss to the Nationals, giving up six runs on seven hits while retiring just one of the eight batters he faced in the seventh inning. He felt like rewatching it immediately would amount to “beating a dead horse” and didn’t have any answers for what went wrong even after the game ended.

So, Armstrong went home and played baseball with his son for an hour and a half to cool down. When his son went to sleep, Armstrong and his wife, Sarah, fired up the video. Over and over and over again.

“I watched it probably 20 times, to be completely honest with you,” Armstrong said Sunday morning.

Answers still proved to be elusive. Aside from a cutter that CJ Abrams hit high off the left-field wall for a double, Armstrong wasn’t totally sure what he would change about the way he threw the ball in the 20-pitch, 16-strike outing.

“I went back, watched video. My wife was sitting there, watching video with me. And it's like, aside from maybe repeated locations, I don't know that there was much I'd change as far as like the outing itself,” he said. “It happened fast. So, I mean, it's part of the game. It's just super unfortunate.”

That message was reinforced to Armstrong in a 7:30 a.m. text from pitching coach Kyle Snyder. According to Armstrong, Snyder said his expected outcomes -- based on the pitches he threw and where he located them -- were far better than the results that played out on the field.

“If I were to go back, obviously I'd make some changes and maybe do a little bit more cat-and-mouse [by mixing locations] east-west or north-south, whatever it may be,” he said. “You've got to learn from it. It's [about] results here. That's the best way I can put it. Can't sulk in your sorrows. You've got to move on, because I want the ball again today.”

Manager Kevin Cash, who called Armstrong’s tough inning “pretty fluky,” said he wouldn’t shy away from someone who’s been such a critical part of their bullpen.

“There's no doubt he's been scuffling here a little bit, but he's proven over many, many outings, appearances and seasons with us he's done some really good things for us,” Cash said. “We'll get him back out.”

Armstrong said he felt fine, albeit frustrated, while he was on the mound. His fastball velocity was down about 1 mph, but didn’t raise any alarms. He’s never had an issue with tipping pitches, and praised both the Rays’ staff and fellow reliever Phil Maton for the job they do looking for potential slip-ups on that front.

In short, it might have just been one of those outings during one of those stretches. The 33-year-old has given up eight runs while recording three outs over his last two outings, matching the number of earned runs he gave up in 52 innings over 39 appearances during his outstanding 2023 season.

“I'm up for all discussions when it comes to trying to figure out what it is,” Armstrong said. “But the tide's got to turn. … Just got to keep working and moving forward, and the results will turn at some point. Hopefully sooner than later, that's for sure.”