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Chris Archer

Dodgers Hire Chris Archer As Special Assistant

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The Dodgers have hired Chris Archer as a special assistant in their baseball operations department, as the righty himself tells Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. It doesn’t seem as though he has a clearly defined role as of yet, telling Mackey that he’s sampling a few different things.

Archer, now 35, has pitched in 243 major league games, logging 1,357 innings with an earned run average of 3.93. Most of those games were with the Rays, though he has also pitched for the Pirates and Twins. His most recent stint was with Minnesota in 2022, with that club declining a mutual option for 2023, then Archer didn’t end up signing with anyone for the 2023 season.

There hasn’t been anything to indicate he has officially retired but it appears he is at least pursuing non-playing opportunities for the time being. It’s unknown if he has a target area that he will be focusing on with the Dodgers, but he has almost two decades of experience with the league to draw upon, having been drafted back in 2006. He has dabbled in non-playing roles before, having occasionally jumped on some broadcasts as a commentator/analyst at times. That’s something he could perhaps try again in the future but he seems to be getting a feel for front office work for the time being.

The Most Notable Remaining Free Agents

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We’re now a week into the regular season and most of the attention amongst clubs and fans is on the games themselves. It’s a quiet time of year from a hot stove perspective. The offseason is finished and it’s far too early for teams to kick the tires on meaningful trades. Some extension talks might trickle into the season but otherwise, transactions this time of year typically take the form of waiver claims and internal prospect promotions.

Even at a relatively quiet portion of the season, there remain a handful of notable players on the free agent market. Gary Sánchez just came off the board on a minor league deal last week, for instance. Which other players — many of whom are late-career former stars — could still find interest as depth options, particularly if they’re amenable to a minor league contract?

Miguel Sanó

Sanó had a disastrous 2022 season. Right knee troubles kept him to 20 games and 71 plate appearances, in which he hit .083/.211/.133 with only one home run. That ended his time with the Twins, who made the obvious call to buy him out of a club option, but he’s only a year removed from hitting 30 homers. Sanó has topped 25 longballs on four occasions in his career. He won’t turn 30 until next month, making him one of the younger players who didn’t sign over the offseason. Sanó reportedly held a showcase for scouts in early February but there was no publicly reported interest from any teams thereafter.

Chris Archer

Like Sanó, Archer spent the 2022 season in Minnesota but was bought out at year’s end. He tossed 102 2/3 innings across 25 outings, posting a 4.56 ERA with a modest 19.2% strikeout rate and an elevated 11% walk percentage. It was the most hittable Archer has been in his career, but he still averaged 93 MPH on his four-seam and 88.7 MPH on his slider. He’s clearly not the upper mid-rotation arm he was when he made two All-Star games during his time with the Rays, but he’s probably the top unsigned starting pitcher. Archer hasn’t been substantively linked to any team since being cut loose by Minnesota in November. Last month, Joel Sherman of the New York Post wrote that Archer had conducted a showcase for teams, though it isn’t clear when that workout occurred.

Darin Ruf

Released by the Mets earlier this week, Ruf is a right-handed hitter who has typically been an effective platoon first base/corner outfield option of late. He mashed at a .271/.385/.519 clip two years ago. At last summer’s deadline, he was carrying a .216/.328/.373 line over 90 games for the Giants. New York acquired him for a four-player package including J.D. Davis and Thomas Szapucki. Ruf’s production cratered in Queens but he’s not far removed from being a well-regarded offensive player.

Stephen Piscotty

Piscotty has tallied over 2800 MLB plate appearances split between the Cardinals and A’s. An above-average hitter through his first four seasons, he’s struggled significantly in the last four years. Piscotty was released by Oakland last summer and didn’t return to the majors after signing a minor league deal with the Reds. He caught on with the Giants and collected eight hits in 25 at-bats (.320/.370/.440) but didn’t land a job out of camp. San Francisco granted him his release on Opening Day.

Zack Britton

Britton was arguably the sport’s most dominant reliever during his halcyon days in Baltimore. He remained an elite ground-ball artist for much of his time with the Yankees, excelling in high-leverage innings through 2020. Poor health has intervened in the last two years. Britton spent time on the injured list with elbow concerns in 2021, struggling when able to take the mound. He eventually required Tommy John surgery, which wiped out virtually all of the ’22 season. Britton returned at the tail end of the season but couldn’t find the strike zone and was shut back down. He’s thrown multiple showcases in recent months.

Ken Giles

Much of what applies to Britton is also true of Giles. They’re different pitchers stylistically — Giles is a right-hander whose best days were fueled by huge strikeout tallies instead of grounders — but he’s also a formerly elite reliever who has fallen on hard times from a health perspective. Giles also required Tommy John surgery. His procedure came late in 2020 and cost him all of the ’21 campaign. He returned to the majors with the Mariners last summer and was let go after five appearances. Giles also worked out for clubs late in the offseason but has yet to put pen to paper.

Corey Knebel

Continuing with the run on relievers, Knebel is a former All-Star closer in his own right. He wasn’t as dominant as either Britton or Giles at his peak, and his career has frequently been interrupted by injury. Knebel was very productive as recently as 2021, when he posted a 2.45 ERA in 25 2/3 innings for the Dodgers. That earned him a $10MM deal with the Phillies, which was sidetracked by shoulder problems. He finished the year on the injured list after tearing his shoulder capsule.

Leury García

García spent a decade with the White Sox in a utility capacity. Never much of an offensive threat, he nevertheless endeared himself to multiple coaching staffs based on his defensive flexibility. García signed a surprising three-year deal with Chicago over the 2021-22 offseason. He had a dreadful ’22 campaign and was off to a rough start in Spring Training. The White Sox cut bait in spite of the two remaining years on his contract. García’s an affordable utility option elsewhere.

Mike Minor

Minor made 19 starts for the Reds last season, allowing a 6.06 ERA. He was hampered by shoulder issues at times and struggled significantly with the home run ball. Minor has allowed more than five earned runs per nine innings for three consecutive seasons, though his strikeout and walk rates were solid up until 2022. He held a showcase in February and drew some reported attention from the Cubs last month.

Dallas Keuchel

A former Cy Young winner who was effective for the White Sox during the shortened 2020 season, Keuchel has been hit hard over the past couple years. He played for each of Chicago, Arizona and Texas last season and was tagged for a 9.20 ERA across 14 starts. Keuchel was excellent over four Triple-A outings in the Ranger organization. Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported a couple weeks ago that the Phillies had expressed loose interest in the two-time All-Star, though Philadelphia apparently didn’t put a formal minor league offer on the table.

Others of note: Archie Bradley, Kole Calhoun, Robinson Canó, Kyle Crick, Didi Gregorius, Michael Pineda, Garrett Richards, Aníbal Sánchez, Andrelton Simmons, Jonathan Villar

Which Free Agents Remain For Teams Seeking Rotation Help?

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With the holiday slowing down what had become a very rapid offseason, it works as a natural point to take stock of what players clubs could target in the coming weeks. On Monday, MLBTR looked through the remaining free agent relievers coming off the best 2022 campaigns (one of whom has since signed a major league deal). Now we’ll take stock of the rotation options who are still out on the open market.

There aren’t as many starting pitchers for clubs to sort through as there were bullpen targets, with 19 remaining hurlers who tallied at least 20 rotation innings this past season. We’ll look at the top half of that group by various metrics to determine who teams figure to prioritize as they seek starting pitching depth.

Note: all figures cited, including league averages, are looking solely at pitchers’ outings as starters.

ERA (league average — 4.05)

  1. Johnny Cueto (RHP), 3.29
  2. Michael Wacha (RHP), 3.32
  3. Wade Miley (LHP), 3.34
  4. Bryan Garcia (RHP), 3.54
  5. Zack Greinke (RHP), 3.68
  6. Devin Smeltzer (LHP), 4.02
  7. Zach Davies (RHP), 4.06
  8. Aníbal Sánchez (RHP), 4.28
  9. Drew Hutchison (RHP), 4.52

Strikeout rate (league average — 21.6%)

  1. Chase Anderson (RHP), 24.6%
  2. Matt Swarmer (RHP), 22.4%
  3. Bryan Garcia, 20.2%
  4. Michael Wacha, 20.2%
  5. Chris Archer (RHP), 19.2%
  6. Wade Miley, 18.4%
  7. Zach Davies, 17.9%
  8. Chad Kuhl (RHP), 17.8%
  9. Mike Minor (LHP), 16.7%

Strikeout/walk rate differential (league average — 14.1 percentage points)

  1. Michael Wacha, 14.2 points
  2. Matt Swarmer, 13.1 points
  3. Dylan Bundy (RHP), 11.1 points
  4. Chase Anderson, 10.6 points
  5. Johnny Cueto, 10.5 points
  6. Wade Miley, 9.2 points
  7. Michael Pineda (RHP), 9 points
  8. Aaron Sanchez (RHP), 9 points
  9. Zach Davies, 8.8 points

Ground-ball rate (league average — 42.5%)

  1. Wade Miley, 54.2%
  2. Aaron Sanchez, 51.3%
  3. Chase Anderson, 50.9%
  4. Dallas Keuchel (LHP), 50.2%
  5. Jared Koenig (LHP), 47.2%
  6. Chris Archer, 43.7%
  7. Zach Davies, 42.9%
  8. Johnny Cueto, 42.5%
  9. Zack Greinke, 41.3%

FIP (league average — 4.04)

  1. Johnny Cueto, 3.76
  2. Wade Miley, 4.00
  3. Zack Greinke, 4.03
  4. Michael Wacha, 4.14
  5. Chase Anderson, 4.37
  6. Chris Archer, 4.49
  7. Aaron Sanchez, 4.61
  8. Dylan Bundy, 4.66
  9. Zach Davies, 4.83

Innings pitched

  1. Johnny Cueto, 153 1/3
  2. Dylan Bundy, 140
  3. Zack Greinke, 137
  4. Chad Kuhl, 137
  5. Zach Davies, 134 1/3
  6. Michael Wacha, 127 1/3
  7. Chris Archer, 102 2/3
  8. Mike Minor, 98
  9. Drew Hutchison, 89 2/3

Twins Decline Options On Bundy, Archer, Sano

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The Twins announced this afternoon they’ve declined their respective options on Dylan Bundy, Chris Archer and Miguel Sanó. Minnesota also confirmed the previously-reported decision to exercise their option to retain starter Sonny Gray. None of those come as a surprise, as they were each easy calls for the Minnesota front office.

Bundy signed a $5MM guarantee last offseason, with the Twins rolling the dice he’d bounce back after an injury-plagued 2021 campaign in Anaheim. The deal came with an $11MM club option for 2023, giving them some extra contractual upside if Bundy righted the ship in the Twin Cities. The right-hander did stay healthy enough to take the ball 29 times and soak up 140 innings, but he didn’t put up the kind of numbers the front office had envisioned. Bundy managed only a 4.89 ERA with a well below-average 15.8% strikeout rate and a modest 9.7% swinging strike rate. He demonstrated excellent control, walking fewer than 5% of opponents,  but he didn’t miss many bats and surrendered 24 home runs (1.54 per nine innings).

A former fourth overall pick and top pitching prospect, Bundy has seen his velocity trend downwards as he’s battled injury concerns throughout his career. He averaged only 89 MPH on his four-seam this year, the first time his already pedestrian fastball has dipped below 90 MPH on average. Bundy, who turns 30 later this month, will collect a $1MM buyout and head back to free agency. He’s likely looking at one-year offers as a depth arm again, and it’s possible his next deal will come with a lower base salary than this’s year $4MM figure.

Archer was also an offseason signee, joining Bundy as part of Minnesota’s efforts to bolster the back of its rotation. He inked an incentive-laden deal that guaranteed him a $2.75MM base salary and a $750K buyout on a 2023 option. He tacked on $3MM in incentives by making 25 starts this year, bringing Minnesota’s ultimate outlay to $6.5MM. Rather than trigger their end of a $10MM mutual option for next season, Minnesota sends the two-time All-Star back to the open market.

The 34-year-old posted a 4.56 ERA across 102 2/3 innings as Twin. That was his biggest workload since 2019, but Archer still had a pair of injured list stints due to hip and pectoral issues. When healthy, he posted a below-average 19.2% strikeout rate and walked batters at an elevated 11% clip. The righty still averaged 93 MPH on his heater, but this year’s 9.5% swinging strike percentage was his lowest mark since 2014.

Sanó, meanwhile, hits free agency for the first time in his career. Today’s move, while without suspense, looks as if it’ll officially close the books on his 13-year tenure in the organization. A high-profile amateur signee out of the Dominican Republic and subsequently one of the best prospects in the game, Sanó made his big league debut in 2015. He hit the ground running against MLB pitching, showcasing the massive raw power and lofty walk totals but huge strikeout rates that’d define his entire tenure in Minnesota.

The burly slugger looked capable of carrying a lineup at his best, including a .247/.346/.576, 34-homer showing in only 105 games in 2019. That earned Sanó a $30MM extension the following offseason, but that proved to be a misstep for the Twins. He posted only slightly above-average offensive numbers from 2020-21 and had an almost completely lost 2022 campaign. Sanó played in 20 games this year, putting up an .083/.211/.133 line in 71 plate appearances while battling persistent knee issues. The 29-year-old returned briefly from early-season knee surgery but spent the last two months on the IL.

Minnesota makes the easy call to pay Sanó a $3MM buyout rather than trigger a $14MM option on his services. He hits the market as a buy-low option for teams seeking first base help, with his huge power sure to get him some attention from another club.

Twins To Place Chris Archer On IL, Select Jharel Cotton

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The Twins are placing right-hander Chris Archer on the 15-day injured list due to a pectoral injury, per Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com. Fellow righty Jharel Cotton will have his contract selected to take Archer’s place on the active roster. The club already had a vacancy on their 40-man roster.

Archer, 33, started yesterday’s game but was removed after two innings and 40 pitches due to this pec issue. Park relays that Archer is confident he can return after the 15-day minimum, though it’s still a noteworthy development for the club. With just over three weeks remaining in the season, even a minimum stay on the IL will keep Archer out of action until there’s only about a week remaining.

With Tyler Mahle also landing on the IL about a week ago, the club’s rotation has taken a couple of blows at a crucial time of the year. The Twins are 3 1/2 games behind the Guardians in the AL Central race, with the White Sox in between. Minnesota will be trying to play catch-up in the home stretch with a diminished pitching staff. Josh Winder was recalled today and will take a spot in the rotation next to Dylan Bundy, Sonny Gray and Joe Ryan. That four-man crew will need reinforcements as the club has an off-day on Monday before embarking on a stretch of 14 games in 13 days, with a doubleheader on September 17.

Archer is taking on a significant workload for the first time since 2019, as he missed the 2020 season entirely and only logged 19 1/3 innings last year. Through 102 2/3 frames this season, he has a 4.56 ERA, though his 19.2% strikeout rate and 11% walk rate are both career worsts. He’s likely returning to free agency this winter, as his deal with the Twins has a mutual option for 2023, with those rarely being executed by both sides.

Cotton, 30, has already been designated for assignment by the Twins three times this year, each time accepting an outright assignment to St. Paul and getting selected back to the roster later. He’s pitched well when called upon, registering a 2.83 ERA in 35 big league innings on the year. A .182 BABIP and 89.7% strand rate are likely putting a little shine on that, however, with advanced metrics like FIP and xFIP pushing over 5.00.

AL Central Notes: Royals, Singer, Lynch, Tigers, Peralta, Pineda, Twins

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The Royals finalized their season-opening rotation yesterday, with manager Mike Matheny telling reporters (including Alec Lewis of the Athletic) that southpaw Daniel Lynch will claim the final spot behind Zack Greinke, Brad Keller, Kris Bubic and Carlos Hernández. Notably, that means right-hander Brady Singer — who has started all 39 of his MLB appearances — is set to work out of the bullpen initially. Matheny indicated the Royals still view Singer and righty Jackson Kowar as starting pitchers long-term, but it’ll be Lynch who gets the nod for now.

It’s a bit of a surprising move, as Singer is coming off the better season. Neither hurler had a good ERA in 2021, but Singer had a better strikeout and ground-ball rate than Lynch while issuing slightly fewer walks. Lynch generated a slightly higher whiff rate, but Singer was among the league’s best pitchers at picking up called strikes. Some evaluators raised concerns during Singer’s prospect days about whether his below-average changeup and lower arm slot could diminish his ability to turn a lineup over multiple times, but he’s not shown marked second or third times through the order splits in his career thus far. Injuries and/or underperformance to the front five figure to give Singer another rotation look in the near future.

More pitching updates from around the division:

  • The Tigers are planning to use Wily Peralta in relief this season, writes Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free-Press. The righty started 18 of 19 appearances with Detroit last year, posting a solid 3.07 ERA but an underwhelming 14.4% strikeout rate. The Tigers brought Peralta back on a minor league contract this spring. He seems likely to get another big league call fairly soon, but he was delayed in reporting to Spring Training because of visa issues and is set for further ramp-up work in the minors. The Tigers added Michael Pineda on a one-year big league deal to assume the final rotation spot behind Eduardo Rodríguez, Casey Mize, Tarik Skubal and Matt Manning. Pineda — held up by visa concerns of his own — consented to be optioned to Triple-A Toledo to open the year for more build-up time, giving Tyler Alexander the #5 spot for the season’s first couple weeks. Pineda tossed three innings for the Mud Hens yesterday, and Petzold notes he’s likely to make two more appearances there before being recalled to the majors.
  • The Twins made a last-minute addition to their rotation before Opening Day, acquiring Chris Paddack from the Padres in a deal that involved four MLB players changing hands. Minnesota already had a starting five of Sonny Gray, Joe Ryan, Dylan Bundy, Bailey Ober and Chris Archer lined up, and manager Rocco Baldelli told reporters (including Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com) the Twins will roll with a six-man starting staff to open the season. Active rosters are expanded from 26 to 28 through April, giving teams flexibility to carry plenty of arms. Minnesota is also carrying top prospects Josh Winder and Jhoan Duran on the Opening Day roster, with both working in relief. Duran is expected to remain in that role (where he shined in two innings during his MLB debut this afternoon); Winder could be a rotation option down the line, and Baldelli said Winder could shoulder as much as five innings during an appearance out of the ’pen in the early going (Park link).

Twins Sign Chris Archer

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The Twins are adding to the rotation via free agency, announcing agreement with Chris Archer on a one-year deal. The VC Sports Group client reportedly receives a $3.5MM guarantee, consisting of a $2.75MM base salary and a $750K buyout on a $10MM mutual option for the 2023 season. Archer’s 2022 salary can max out at $9.5MM based on starts and/or games with at least three innings pitched, presumably to give him credit for “relief” outings following an opener. To create 40-man roster space, Minnesota sent left-hander Lewis Thorpe outright to Triple-A St. Paul.

Archer has barely pitched over the past couple seasons due to injury. He missed all of the shortened 2020 campaign after undergoing surgery to correct thoracic outlet syndrome. Bought out by the Pirates after that season, he signed a one-year deal with the Rays but was limited to 19 1/3 innings during his second stint in Tampa Bay. The righty hit the injured list after just two appearances on account of forearm tightness. While it was initially hoped that’d be a brief stint, it kept him out of action until late August. He made four appearances late in the year upon returning, but issues with his left hip sent him back to the IL for a season-ending stay.

The lack of recent volume has been a new issue for Archer, who was a durable and highly productive arm early in his career. He exceeded 115 innings every year between 2013-19, including three consecutive 200-inning seasons with the Rays from 2015-17. Archer earned All-Star selections in two of those campaigns and picked up a fifth-place finish in AL Cy Young Award voting during a 2015 season in which he posted a 3.23 ERA and a 3.08 SIERA.

Archer was a top-of-the-rotation arm during his best days in Tampa, combining for a 3.66 ERA with a strong 26.7% strikeout rate between 2014-17. The Rays flipped him to the Pirates in advance of the 2018 trade deadline, a now-infamous deal that saw Pittsburgh part with Austin Meadows, Tyler Glasnow and Shane Baz to pick up three and a half years of club control over Archer. Unfortunately for the Bucs, that deal looked regrettable almost from the get-go. Archer’s production went backwards early in his Pittsburgh tenure, and the team didn’t get a single inning from him during the affordable 2020-21 club options that had made him such an appealing target at the time of the trade.

It has been three years since Archer was a productive rotation member. He’s now 33 years old, and the mid-90s velocity he sported during his best days didn’t reappear in his brief return from TOS last year. Archer averaged only 92 MPH on his four-seam fastball after sitting in the 94-96 MPH range throughout his entire career previously.

The low-base, incentive-laden structure of the deal reflects both Archer’s decent upside and his three consecutive down seasons. If he stays healthy and cements himself in the rotation, he’ll have a chance to earn comparable salaries as back-end starters like Tyler Anderson and Andrew Heaney were guaranteed this winter. If he again struggles with injury, the club’s financial investment will be more minimal.

Archer figures to open the year at the back half of the Minnesota rotation. The Twins have made some major shakeups on the position player side, shipping out Mitch Garver and Josh Donaldson and bringing in Gary Sánchez and Gio Urshela via trade before shockingly landing the market’s top free agent, Carlos Correa. That reaffirmed the Twins were all-in on rebounding from last season’s 73-89 finish.

The rotation has arguably been the team’s biggest weakness all winter, though. Minnesota landed Sonny Gray in a deal with the Reds and picked up Dylan Bundy on a reclamation free agent deal not all that dissimilar from today’s pact with Archer. After trading José Berríos last summer and losing Kenta Maeda to Tommy John surgery, they came into the offseason arguably needing three new arms to join Bailey Ober and rookie Joe Ryan in the season-opening starting staff.

Archer becomes the third such outside addition, although neither he nor Bundy is anything near a sure bet to provide reliable production. Pitching alternatives have gotten limited this late in the offseason, however, particularly with the Reds taking Luis Castillo and Tyler Mahle off the trade block. A’s starters Sean Manaea and Frankie Montas looked like prime trade candidates, but the most recent reports suggest Oakland could carry both into the season. The free agent market had mostly thinned out as well, with Archer and Johnny Cueto representing the best remaining options.

The Twins move forward with Archer, who’ll presumably step into a season-opening starting five with Gray, Bundy, Ryan and Ober. Minnesota also has a trio of highly-regarded pitching prospects — Josh Winder, Jhoan Duran and Jordan Balazovic — who could factor into the mix as well. Aaron Gleeman of the Athletic wrote last week that Winder looked to be the first line of rotation reinforcements for the Twins, with Duran likelier to break into the bigs as a reliever. Given the recent injury histories of Bundy and Archer and the uncertainty of young arms like Ober and Ryan, it stands to reason Winder will get a look at some point early in the year.

Thorpe was a decently-regarded pitching prospect himself, but he hasn’t found a ton of big league success. The southpaw has tossed 59 1/3 innings in 24 outings as a swingman over the past three seasons, posting a 5.76 ERA. He was out of minor league option years, and the Twins have chosen to bump him from the 40-man roster rather than carry him on the big league club all year. Having already cleared outright waivers, the Australia native will remain in the organization without occupying a spot on the 40-man.

Jeff Passan of ESPN first reported the Twins and Archer had agreed to a $3.5MM deal that could max out at $9.5MM based on starts and/or three-inning appearances. Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com reported the $10MM mutual option, which Passan reported contained a $750K buyout.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Injury Notes: Winker, Brantley, Archer, Brogdon

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Reds All-Star outfielder Jesse Winker began a rehab assignment with Triple-A Louisville on Tuesday. He’s played there each of the past two nights and will start for the Bats again this evening but could return to the big league club as soon as tomorrow, manager David Bell told reporters (including C. Trent Rosecrans of the Athletic). Cincinnati begins a difficult three-game set with the Dodgers this weekend.

Winker has been one of the game’s best hitters this season, following up on a fantastic shortened 2020 campaign with the best numbers of his career. Across 481 plate appearances, Winker owns a .307/.395/.560 line with 24 home runs. Even after accounting for Cincinnati’s hitter-friendly home ballpark, that offensive output checks in 52 percentage points above the league average by measure of wRC+, a mark that trails only Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Bryce Harper, Fernando Tatís Jr. and Juan Soto among players with more than 400 trips to the plate. Reinstalling that kind of impact bat into the order would be huge for a Reds’ team that enters play today one and a half games back of the division-rival Cardinals for the National League’s final playoff spot (with the Padres also half a game up on them in the standings).

Some other injury situations for contending clubs around the league:

  • The Astros placed Michael Brantley on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to September 12, last night because of right knee soreness. The club didn’t provide any sort of timetable for his return, but there’s no indication it’s anything more than a precautionary absence. Houston holds a commanding seven game lead in the AL West thanks to recent scuffles by the A’s and Mariners, so there’s no reason to push one of their top performers before the start of the postseason. The ever-consistent Brantley is having another very good year, hitting .315/.367/.441 in 493 plate appearances.
  • Rays right-hander Chris Archer may not make it back to the field in 2021, writes Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. The 32-year-old, who returned to Tampa Bay on a one-year deal worth $6.5MM this offseason, has been slowed by hip troubles in recent weeks and is seeking outside opinions on the matter before determining a course of treatment. Once the Rays’ top starter, Archer came back to Tropicana Field in hopes of revitalizing his career following a 2020 thoracic outlet surgery. He’s been limited to just 19 2/3 innings, however, due to a forearm injury early in the season and the recent hip troubles that have surfaced.
  • The Phillies placed reliever Connor Brogdon on the 10-day injured list due to a right groin strain yesterday. He “probably” won’t return this season, writes Matt Gelb of the Athletic. Brogdon has been one of the more reliable arms in a shaky Philly bullpen, tossing 55 frames of 3.60 ERA ball. The right-hander hasn’t missed bats at the huge level he flashed in a small sample last season, but he’s thrown strikes and induced grounders at a slightly above-average rate. Brogdon has worked mostly in medium-leverage situations this season, but his loss further thins a relief corps that leads baseball with 32 blown saves. Those bullpen woes are perhaps the biggest reason the Phils enter play today three and a half games behind the Braves in the NL East and three games back in the Wild Card hunt.

Rays Place Chris Archer On Injured List, Designate Shawn Armstrong, Activate Nick Anderson And Brett Phillips

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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.

Rays Place Shane McClanahan, Matt Wisler On 10-Day Injured List

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Tightness in Shane McClanahan’s back has forced the Rays to place the rookie southpaw on the 10-day injured list yesterday. The injury is minor, however, and the Rays plan to have McClanahan back in the rotation as of September 19, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times.

McClanahan has made 22 starts for the Rays, which puts him first on the team in that category, while he’s second in innings pitched with 110 1/3 frames. Those innings have largely been quality: McClanahan has posted a 3.59 ERA/3.23 FIP with a strikeout rate roughly four percent better than average and a walk rate roughly one percent better than average.

In the meantime, Louis Head was recalled from Triple-A, and Chris Archer will move back into the rotation to start today’s game against the Tigers. The 31-year-old Head is in his first season with Tampa, a year in which he’s made his Major League debut and posted a 2.93 ERA/3.52 FIP in 27 2/3 innings. Archer has yet to find his groove, though he did soak up five innings during his last start on September 4.

In less promising news, Matt Wisler could be sidelined for the rest of the season due to inflammation in his middle finger. The team is hopeful he sees some improvement after a 10-day shutdown, but the outlook doesn’t look promising. Wisler has been stellar since joining Tampa from the Giants, pitching to a 2.30 ERA/2.17 FIP over 27 1/3 innings.

If Wisler is out for the year, the Rays could replace him with a familiar face: Nick Anderson should join the active roster for the first time this season on Sunday, per Topkin. That the Rays have succeeded as they have without Anderson all year speaks to their pitching depth. Anderson was a crucial piece of their pen last season and could be again if he appears on track heading into the postseason. Anderson has been out all year with a partial ligament tear in his elbow.

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