The Rays have made a flurry of roster moves, as first reported by Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (Twitter links). Right-hander Chris Archer has been placed on the 10-day injured list with discomfort in his left hip, while fellow right Shawn Armstrong has been designated for assignment. To fill the two open roster spots, Tampa Bay has activated right-hander Nick Anderson from the 60-day injured list and outfielder Brett Phillips from the 10-day IL.
Archer was solid over four innings in yesterday’s 7-2 victory over the Tigers, allowing one run on a walk and two hits during his brief start. However, Archer’s hip issue forced him out of the game early, marking the second time in less than a month that the injury led to an early exit from a start.
Injures have been a constant for Archer in recent years, and yesterday’s start was only Archer’s sixth game of the season. After missing all of 2020 recovering from thoracic outlet syndrome surgery, he spent over four months of the 2021 campaign on the IL due to forearm tightness.
While this latest trip to the IL might be just be a way to rest Archer and allow him to fully get over a nagging injury, it also has to call into question Archer’s availability for Tampa Bay’s playoff roster. Over the small sample size of 19 1/3 innings, Archer has a 4.66 ERA, 25.9% strikeout rate, and 9.6% walk rate — not eye-popping numbers by any means, though perhaps productive enough for a Rays team that seems poised to use a bullpen-heavy approach with their postseason pitching staff. Tampa will need as many quality arms as possible to keep everyone fresh for what the club hopes will be a more successful trip to the World Series.
That same logic applies to Anderson, who is finally set to make his 2021 debut after suffering a partial tear of his right elbow ligament near the end of Spring Training. It is a testament to the Rays’ incredible bullpen depth that their relief corps has remained among the game’s best even despite the absence of arguably their best reliever from 2019-20. A trade deadline pickup from the Marlins in July 2019, Anderson has been all but untouchable over 37 2/3 regular-season innings with Tampa, as he has posted a 1.43 ERA, a tiny 3.68% walk rate, and an absurd 49.26% strikeout rate.
The Rays leaned hard on Anderson during their postseason run last October, and it seems the increased usage took its toll on the right-hander. Anderson pitched in 10 of Tampa Bay’s 20 playoff games, and allowed runs in eight of his appearances. Most infamously, Anderson was the pitcher called in to replace a seemingly-cruising Blake Snell in Game 6 of last year’s World Series — Anderson immediately surrendered the Rays’ lead within two batters, putting the Dodgers ahead for good in the Series-clinching game.
Armstrong was a trade deadline pickup from the Orioles, and the veteran righty posted a 4.50 ERA over his 16 innings in a Rays uniform. Despite some solid peripheral numbers, Armstrong was again hurt by the home run ball, as he has already allowed five homers in his brief time with Tampa Bay. Armstrong has surrendered 10 homers in his 36 combined innings with Baltimore and Tampa this season, a jarring spike for a pitcher who gave up just 17 home runs over his 131 previous career frames as a big league pitcher.
Since Armstrong is out of minor league options, the Rays had to put him through DFA waivers in order to remove him from their roster. Armstrong has the right to elect free agency rather than accept an outright assignment to Triple-A, since he was already outrighted off the Orioles’ roster earlier this week. It is also possible another team simply claims Armstrong off waivers, in order to add another relief arm down the stretch.
DarkSide830
I think it’s over, Chris
Angry Disgruntled Sox Fan
People said the same about John lackey, Verlander, Cole Hamels, MadBum, list goes on and on… he could be done but I wouldn’t count him out. Injuries are a big setback, sometimes one after another, but there can be a light at the end of the tunnel.
Fever Pitch Guy
Thoughts and prayers for a speedy recovery.
DarkSide830
he cant stay healthy and hasnt shown to be a particularly good pitcher in a while regardless…
joev93
Archer was never nearly as good as any of those guys
IronBallsMcGinty
Whoa! Darkside started a post with a capital letter. I’m buying a lottery ticket.
Rsox
Getting a guaranteed contract is probably over but someone will bring him to camp as a NRI
JohhnyBets67
Mini Miracle he got 6.5 guaranteed this year. He’s definitely going to be on the heavily incentivized low guarantee deal the next time around.
posty
In before the “thoughts and prayers”…
matt4baseball
I hope Nick Anderson is at least 95% of what he was in 19 and early 20. We need our 98rs back at full strength now!
imissjoebuzas
I truly hope what you say comes true. If Anderson is back close to where he was, the Rays should be in good shape for the playoffs. Nice to know David Robertson is there too.
daGeezer
There was no “there, there” for Robertson in his Sunday effort. Seems the plate wasn’t “there.” Surprising, hoping it was a one-off.
nickc-2
RIP in peace
raysdude7676
Archer pitched better for the Rays this season than he did for the Pirates. Low bar as he was awful with the buccos, but it is something. Unsure if he will be on the playoff roster if he is not 100%. A healthy nick anderson that was close to the 2019 form would be amazing. If anderson is healthy, the Rays have much better odds of winning the whole thing