Thursday was a great day to be a fan at PNC Park. The Pirates won their first series in two weeks, Josh Bell hit 3 doubles, Colin Moran and Gregory Polanco hit back to back homers. I personally debuted my new Josh Bell jersey at the game (worked pretty well), but most importantly Chris Archer mowed down the Atlanta Braves lineup en route to a 6-1 victory.
It’s no secret that Chris Archer has struggled since he was brought to Pittsburgh late last summer. His career with the Pirates has been full of short outings, with sprinkled in gems. Consistency both through outings and finding the strike zone has been the book on the highly touted acquisition. This season has been no different up until his previous start against the Milwaukee Brewers last week.
In that game Archer was able to go 7 innings, allowing 4 runs on 5 hits. The kicker however was that he only allowed 2 walks which had been his Achilles heel since returning from a thumb injury. Fast forward to yesterday and Archer continued on the path that he set earlier in the homestand, pitching into the 7th while only allowing 1 run on 6 hits. His control was on point as well only allowing 2 walks. Archer was also able to throw at a 69% strike rate on the day.
However, it’s not just his stat line that has improved in the last two outings. Archer is very much a pitcher who wears his emotions on his sleeve during a start, and lately that emotion has shown us just how frustrated he has been on the bump. But even that has improved in his last two starts, as Archer has shown that swagger that he was known for during his best years in Tampa Bay.
After allowing a first inning home run to Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman, Archer was dialed in and blanked the Braves offense for 5 straight innings. He came out for the 7th inning before being replaced by Francisco Liriano who cleaned up the inning for him. While there are still Archer critics they were nowhere near the first baseline in that 7th inning, as the fans gave him his second straight standing ovation. Archer, showing his emotions again, tapped his hands over his heart and mouthed “thank you” out of appreciation to his standing supporters.
If Archer can find consistency at the level he has been pitching recently it could mark a turn around for the entire rotation. It would give the rotation a swing starter that could either continue to the momentum of a win streak or put an end to a losing streak, and push the momentum in a good direction for the rest of the starters. That spot has been Jameson Taillon’s for the last couple seasons but has been vacant since the right hander went to the IL last month. Archer taking that spot, along with Williams returning from injury, should bolster a rotation that struggled through the month of May.
Through his last two starts Chris Archer has shown us what GM Neal Huntington was looking for when he traded for him last season. With Taillon down for an extended period of time, now is the time for Archer to take charge of the rotation and the number one spot. His last two starts have him trending in the right direction.
(Photo: Pittsburgh Pirates via Instagram)
(Photo: Emilee Fails)
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