If Major League Baseball does indeed have a 2020 Major League Baseball regular season and playoff, then Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Chris Archer of Raleigh, North Carolina, will not be on the mound. That is because according to TSN, Archer had thoracic outlet surgery on his right elbow, and will miss the entire 2020 season.
Archer will try to bounce back in 2021 after a poor 2019 regular season, the worst season of his Major League Baseball career. Last season with the Pirates, Archer only had a record of three wins and nine losses, with an earned run average of 5.19. In 119 2/3 innings pitched, Archer gave up only 114 hits, but struggled with his control as he had 55 walks. That led to a poor WHIP (walks and hits per innings pitched) of 1.41. Also last season, Archer gave up 69 earned runs, 25 home runs, and had 143 strikeouts.
Archer did lead Major League Baseball with 19 losses while with the Tampa Bay Rays in 2016. However, that season he only had an earned run average of 4.02. The Pirates will be hoping that Archer is able to bounce back and perform up to his potential where he was an all-star with the Rays in 2015 and 2017.
There is no doubt that the Rays won the trade with the Pirates on July 31, 2018. In return for Archer, the Rays got all-star outfielder Austin Meadows of Atlanta, Georgia, and starting pitcher Tyler Glasnow of Newhall, California. In 2019, Meadows batted .291 with 33 home runs and 89 runs batted in. Glasnow, meanwhile had a record of six wins, one loss, and a marvelous earned run average of 1.78.
With Archer not in the rotation, it appears the Pirates starting five will be Joe Musgrove, Mitch Keller, Trevor Williams, Derek Holland, and Steven Brault. Clearly, starting pitching is a weakness for the Pirates if there is a season in 2020.
