ST. PETERSBURG — Only eight games into the season, the Rays’ pitching injuries continue to pile up.
Making his first start of the season on Saturday afternoon at Tropicana Field, right-hander Chris Archer exited the Rays’ 4-0 win against the Yankees in the third inning due to right lateral forearm tightness. Archer will be further evaluated on Sunday, the team announced.
After allowing a one-out hit to DJ LeMahieu, Archer met on the mound with catcher Francisco Mejía. Manager Kevin Cash and head athletic trainer Joe Benge came out to talk with Archer, who then left the game alongside Benge.
It was not immediately apparent how Archer sustained the injury, but he was noticeably bending and flexing his throwing arm near the end of his outing. And after not pitching last season following neurogenic thoracic outlet surgery, the right-hander was working with diminished fastball velocity throughout his 42-pitch outing.
Archer’s fastball averaged 94.1 mph during the 2019 season. On Saturday, the pitch topped out at 92.8 mph and clocked in at an average of 91.4 mph. When he made his season debut out of the bullpen in Miami on April 3, Archer’s fastball averaged 91.8 mph and topped out at 93.3 mph, adding zip as his relief outing progressed.
He was still effective enough on Saturday, striking out four batters with his slider while allowing three hits and no walks in 2 1/3 innings. Reliever Andrew Kittredge replaced Archer on the mound.
In the past 16 days, the Rays have been hammered by injuries to some of their most important pitchers. This particular run of bad breaks began on March 26, when they placed high-leverage reliever Nick Anderson on the 60-day injured list due to a partially torn ligament in his right elbow.
If Archer joins those pitchers on the injured list, Tampa Bay has Major League-ready depth available at its alternate training site. Left-hander Josh Fleming pitched well as a starter/bulk-innings option last season and had an excellent Spring Training. Right-hander Trevor Richards is capable of working multiple innings as a starter or reliever, and he was also among the Rays’ final cuts in camp. Tampa Bay may not yet be ready to call upon top prospects Luis Patiño and Shane McClanahan, but both are expected to pitch important innings for the club at some point this year.