Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
“In that moment, I am not going to jeopardize his career or our future either.”
Those were the words of Tampa Bay Rays manager Joe Maddon spoken to Bill Chastain of MLB.com after Chris Archer was removed from his latest turn on Wednesday with some forearm tightness. Although perhaps a little out of context here in the fact that he said them after mentioning the righty may be able to make his next start despite the injury scare, it should also be taken as a pretty clear sign as to what the Rays should do after.
That is, they should make Archer’s next start his last in 2013.
With both Alex Cobb and Matt Moore on the way back, there is simply no reason to jeopardize Archer’s future with the team, even if he should be the choice to keep his job over Roberto Hernandez. If the Rays were taking the position to not mess around with forearm tightness during that moment, there is in fact very little reason for them to mess around with it afterwards.
After all, the list of arms that needed surgery stemming from that innocent two-word diagnosis is long and ever-growing, and if there is any concern at all about Archer’s workload, now would be the time to manage it.
But what about the AL East race? Well, even if they shut down the 24-year-old down as a starter, it’s not as though he won’t necessarily be able to contribute either. Like David Price and Moore before him, Archer could be shifted into the bullpen and provide a boost there down the stretch.
The one-inning outings would give the team the most flexibility in managing the rest of his innings this season, and may even rest him up to make a start in the postseason should the need come up.
Another option, though it may be temporary one, could be for the Rays to go with a six-man rotation for now so they can both reduce Archer’s innings and ease Cobb back into action. You don’t need to look too far in the MLB world to see that concussions are no easy hurdle to jump over, and it’s likely that there will be some ups and downs when he returns.
Regardless of what the Rays decide to do, you’d have to say that their manager probably said it best in this case. For the sake of him being able to effectively contribute in both the short and long term, the team should not be taking chances with Archer … even if it means they won’t have the best starter down the stretch on a regular basis.
