Brian Anderson entered spring training with an outside shot of making the 25-man roster. Cole Armstrong was one of the last added to the 40-man roster.
But each of them have improved their chances -- Anderson with production in every game thus far, and Armstrong playing well when Toby Hall isn't playing at all.
Anderson went 2-for-5 Saturday, and his speed made the biggest statement. He stole a base, but he did it after a foul ball spoiled his first attempt to run, so it wasn't unexpected. He also legged out a triple and scored from first on Donny Lucy's double to center.
He could very well snag a backup outfielder spot, and perhaps what's most telling is that he's seen all his time in left field thus far, even when there isn't a legitimate center fielder in the lineup. He's played alongside Jerry Owens, but he's also been to the right of Nick Swisher and Jason Bourgeois as well. Maybe that's a sign that they're preparing him to play all three positions.
It's hard to get excited about Anderson, though, because there are a couple significant issues -- he's still struggles with the low-and-outside breaking pitches, and he always hits well in Tucson. He's just had troubles taking his game north.
There's a similar caveat with Armstrong, in that he's made all his appearances against minor-league pitchers. That said, he's doing all he can -- he's 4-for-4 with two doubles and a triple, showing pretty good speed for a catcher.
"You look at the kid Cole Armstrong," Ozzie Guillen said after Friday's game, "The more I see him, like him a lot."
Armstrong may be getting ahead of Donny Lucy on the backup catcher race, too.
Lucy hit that double Saturday, but he also bunted into three outs. He whiffed on a bunt attempt, leading to Alexei Ramirez getting picked off second. In the sixth inning, after Anderson's one-out triple, he popped up a suicide squeeze attempt sky high.
Armstrong doesn't exactly make a suitable partner for A.J. Pierzynski, considering they both hit from the same side of the plate. He fared well against lefties in Winston-Salem (.286/.349/.545), but he went 2-for-17 with 10 strikeouts against lefties after his promotion to Birmingham last year.