Chris Archer - the little-known 26-year-old who hasn't allowed an earned run in four starts - is the best pitcher in the American League
Getty Images
Because of an injury to Alex Cobb, Archer was moved up on short rest to pitch on Opening Day. In that game he allowed four runs in just 5.2 innings, taking the loss.
But take a look at what Archer has done in the four starts since Opening Day:
- 26.2 innings pitched
- 12 hits
- 5 walks
- 32 strikeouts
- 0.00 ERA
A pitcher is doing well if his strikeout-to-walk ratio is over 3.0. Archer's 6.4. That's off the charts.
Archer is the first AL pitcher since 2009 to make four-straight starts without allowing an earned run. He is also the only pitcher since at least 1914 (the first year with records available) to have three starts in which he worked at least 7.0 innings and allowed no runs and two or fewer hits in his team's first 20 games of the season.
More importantly, the Rays are 3-1 in those starts with the lone blemish being a 1-0 loss to the Red Sox in which the only run came via an error.
Archer's success is not a complete surprise to those who follow baseball closely. He does have a 3.28 ERA in 55 starts the last two seasons combined, an upper-90s fastball with nasty movement...
Sun Sports
... and one of the best sliders in baseball.
Sun Sports
However, before this season, Archer was best known for getting into a verbal spat with David Ortiz of the Red Sox over his bat flips and slow home run trots, saying the slugger sometimes acts like "he's bigger than the game."
Archer's anonymity comes in part from pitching for the low-revenue Rays. But it is also in part due to the depth of pitching the Rays have enjoyed in recent years.
A year ago, Archer was just the fourth-best starting pitcher on his own team, behind Cobb, David Price, and Matt Moore. Since then, Price was traded to the Detroit Tigers, Moore had Tommy John surgery, and Cobb was injured in spring training.
This all bodes well for the Rays, who are off to a good start and should only get better when Cobb and Moore return.
- A centenarian who starts her day with gentle exercise and loves walks shares 5 longevity tips, including staying single
- A couple accidentally shipped their cat in an Amazon return package. It arrived safely 6 days later, hundreds of miles away.
- Colon cancer rates are rising in young people. If you have two symptoms you should get a colonoscopy, a GI oncologist says.
- Having an regional accent can be bad for your interviews, especially an Indian one: study
- Dirty laundry? Major clothing companies like Zara and H&M under scrutiny for allegedly fuelling deforestation in Brazil
- 5 Best places to visit near Darjeeling
- Climate change could become main driver of biodiversity decline by mid-century: Study
- RBI initiates transition plan: Small finance banks to ascend to universal banking status
- JNK India IPO allotment date
- JioCinema New Plans
- Realme Narzo 70 Launched
- Apple Let Loose event
- Elon Musk Apology
- RIL cash flows
- Charlie Munger
- Feedbank IPO allotment
- Tata IPO allotment
- Most generous retirement plans
- Broadcom lays off
- Cibil Score vs Cibil Report
- Birla and Bajaj in top Richest
- Nestle Sept 2023 report
- India Equity Market