Chris Archer has been bad this year or he’s been hurt. He’s got a 5.49 ERA. That ain’t it, chief.
Last year, he was brought in with the Pirates four games over .500 and back just a few games in the Wild Card race.
The Bucs were coming off of an 11 game winning streak! When they needed him in August in his first five starts, he had an ERA over 6. After they had played themselves out of the race, he had an ERA of 2.70 in his final 5 starts.
He didn’t help them when they needed him most. Talk about coming up small.
Here’s what’s odd: The Pirates have won 6 out of Archers last 7 starts, even though he hasn’t been very good.
Eventually, that’s going to even out if he continues to pitch poorly. He’s got an ERA of 5.21 in those seven starts and allowed 12 home runs.
I think Trevor Williams will be okay. Joe Musgrove has an ERA of 1.64 over his last four starts. He’s going to give you a solid performance on most nights. You’ve got a shot to win with those dudes on the mound.
Steven Brault is going to eventually turn back into a pumpkin though, no? Jordan Lyles has an ERA over 8 in his last 6 starts.
The point being you can’t count on those two.
Maybe Brault has really found something and can be serviceable, but I’m not convinced. Lyles is now the guy we thought the Pirates were acquiring.
Can Chris bleeping Archer be the guy we thought the Pirates were acquiring?
The key to the whole thing second half is Archer. He’s got the ability. Brault and Lyles have probably squeezed out just about everything they have. He needs to be better in the pennant race than he was last year when the Pirates were in the thick of it.
Bucco nation turns its lonely eyes to you, Chris Archer. Go be the guy we all thought you could.