Baseball Daily Dose: Daily Dose: Golden Archer
Chris Archer walked the first batter he faced Thursday. It turned out to be one of the Astros’ best scoring chances of the evening.
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Archer allowed just one other baserunner over a complete-game, 1-0 shutout of the Astros on Thursday. A harmless Colby Rasmus single was all the Astros could muster against the 26-year-old, who struck out 11 in the contest.
The strong showing wasn’t unique — it was the eighth time Archer has hit double-digits in strikeouts this year, and the right-hander has allowed zero or one run in 13 of his 26 starts — but the brand of dominance was. Astros manager A.J. Hinch said Archer was the best pitcher his team has seen this season.
“He’s the story of the game,” Hinch said. “He was in complete control. He’s the real deal. He’s got every pitch and he had it tonight. I don’t know if that was his best, because I’m not around him on a day-to-day basis, but it’s the best we’ve seen and certainly he was in total command. His first four pitches were his worst four pitches, and after that he was very dominant.”
The start was a high point in a season of high points for Archer. After the departures of James Shields and David Price in recent years left Archer as the Rays’ de facto ace, Archer has posted an 11-9 record, 2.77 ERA, 1.01 WHIP and 205/42 K/BB ratio over 169 innings this season. Somewhat surprisingly, Thursday’s complete game was his first since 2013.
After Thursday’s game, Archer is third in the majors with 205 strikeouts. The 200-strikeout season is just the sixth in Rays history, and Archer has a legitimate shot at besting Scott Kazmir‘s single-season record of 239 set in 2007.
Fortunately for the Astros, none of Archer’s strikeouts from here on will come against them.
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Tigers Pitching Woes
The Tigers lost two starting pitchers in one fell swoop Thursday afternoon.
The club disabled both Daniel Norris and Anibal Sanchez on Thursday, acquiring starter Randy Wolf and penciling in minor leaguer Buck Farmer to fill their spots. Wolf, who was acquired from the Blue Jays in exchange for cash, will start Saturday, with Farmer being recalled and starting Monday.
Norris hit the shelf after suffering a strained right oblique during Wednesday’s contest. The left-hander left in the fifth inning of the Tigers’ win over the Cubs.
The Sanchez injury — he was placed on the disabled list with a right rotator cuff strain — came as more of a surprise. The right-hander was removed after a rain delay during Tuesday’s game, an expected move after a delay that lasted over two hours, but Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said Sanchez was showing signs of being compromised before being replaced.
“I didn’t know if he was getting tired or what, but his velocity had come down,” Ausmus said. “That’s always concerning. I was not aware of any particular issue but this doesn’t shock me.”
While Wolf and Farmer don’t move the needle, one possible solution discussed Thursday was the promotion of top prospect Michael Fulmer. The 22-year-old, who was acquired in the Yoenis Cespedes trade with the Mets last month, owns a 1.97 ERA, 1.07 WHIP and 107/27 K/BB ratio over 109 2/3 minor league innings this year.
Ausmus said Fulmer is unlikely to be promoted from Double-A for the time being. If that changes, Fulmer would be worth a look as a flyer in deep mixed leagues.
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Giants Land Byrd
The Giants missed out in the Chase Utley sweepstakes, but they were able to capture a Byrd on Thursday.
The team acquired Marlon Byrd from the Reds on Thursday in exchange for minor league right-hander Stephen Johnson. Byrd will join the team in Pittsburgh on Friday.
“Marlon’s a professional, he comes ready to play every day, and we’ve had good reports on him,” Giants general manager Bobby Evans said. “He’s tough on lefties, and he can still cover good ground. He doesn’t profile well from an arm perspective in right field, but it’ll remain to be seen how we ultimately use him.”
The Giants will surely need him to contribute in some fashion, though, after losing starting right fielder Hunter Pence to a left oblique strain on Monday. Giants manager Bruce Bochy told the media he will move Nori Aoki to right field in Pence’s absence, allowing Byrd to man the defensively less-challenging left field spot.
The 37-year-old is having another strong season in terms of power production — he’s hit 19 homers in 96 games thus far — but he’s slashing a disappointing .237/.286/.448 overall. Byrd’s 19 jacks would be tied with shortstop Brandon Crawford for most on the Giants this year.
Johnson, 24, was a sixth-round pick of the Giants in 2012. The right-handed reliever has a 3.41 ERA, 1.28 WHIP and 68/29 K/BB ratio over 58 innings with Double-A Richmond this year.
National League Quick Hits: Giancarlo Stanton (hand) has said he hopes to be back with the Marlins by the start of September. Stanton is still feeling some minor hand discomfort but is hitting against live pitching, a good sign that he’s nearing a return … Mike Leake has said his hamstring still isn’t at 100 percent despite his hope to return as early as this weekend. Leake threw a bullpen session on Wednesday and did some running on Thursday, and his fielding ability on Friday will go a long way toward determining his readiness for a Sunday start against the Pirates … Brandon Phillips is considered day-to-day with biceps inflammation. The second baseman missed Thursday’s game after exiting Wednesday’s contest early … Braves minor leaguer Hector Olivera, acquired from the Dodgers last month, could be promoted as soon as Monday. Olivera returned to action Thursday after a hamstring strain, and at 30 years old he won’t need to show much more in the minors before getting the call … The Giants activated Nori Aoki from the concussion disabled list on Thursday. The outfielder finished 1-for-3 with a walk and a stolen base in the 4-0 blanking by the Pirates.
American League Quick Hits: Alex Gordon, recovering from a Grade 2 groin strain suffered in early July, will embark on a rehab assignment Sunday. Assuming all goes well in his rehab, Gordon should be back with the Royals around the end of the month, if not sooner … Glen Perkins (neck) is hoping to return to action by Tuesday at the latest. Perkins received an injection in his neck on Wednesday to treat the ailment he’s dealt with since late June, and he reported feeling better on Thursday in advance of hopefully playing catch on Friday … The news was less good for Jake McGee, who will undergo season-ending surgery on his left knee. McGee suffered a torn meniscus on Tuesday and will have arthroscopic surgery on Friday … Mark Teixeira (shin) missed his second straight game Thursday. Despite his absence, the Yankees are confident Teixeira won’t require a trip to the DL … Dustin Pedroia (hamstring) won’t return before September 10, the second baseman said Thursday. Pedroia is taking batting practice but will still need a few weeks’ worth of strengthening and ramping up baseball activities before being considered for activation … The Rangers were finally forced to make a move with Josh Hamilton, placing him on the 15-day disabled list with inflammation in his left knee. Recently acquired Will Venable will get the lion’s share of starts in left field in Hamilton’s absence.
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