Fantasy Baseball 2016: Don’t Lose Faith in Chris Archer
Despite a slow start to 2016 for Chris Archer, fantasy owners should not be quick to pull the trigger.
Chris Archer has certainly not gotten off to the hottest start here in the 2016 season, however it is still early. It is hard to judge a players potential at the beginning of the season. When it comes to fantasy baseball, to start the year, you generally see one of two options a player can be. There are the players that get off to hot starts or players that begin in a slump. There is generally no in between.
To start the year, a lot of players start out on fire and are putting up 50-80 points in a given matchup. Over the past few seasons, Archer has been one of those players. Unfortunately, he finds himself struggling to begin the season. He is usually one of the more dominating pitchers in the MLB.
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Chris Archer is still only 27 years old and is still growing at this level. Since 2013, he has cumulative record of 31-29 for the Tampa Bay Rays. Thirty-one wins is impressive for the young man, especially since he’s playing on a Rays team which has ranked towards the bottom of the MLB in terms of runs scored. Had they scored more, Archer would be upwards of 40-50 wins already to start his young career. What really stands out for Archer however, is his cumulative 3.26 ERA and the 526 strikeouts over that span.
After his breakout 2015 performance, fantasy owners were expecting much more out of the young right hander to start the season. Chris Archer was an all-star last year and rightfully so, as he finished the season with a blistering 252 strikeouts and 3.23 ERA through 212 innings pitched. What has happened to Archer so far? I believe he has just not adjusted quite yet. He has shown signs of what he is capable of, just has not been able to be consistent with it.
To start this season, Archer has pitched for 43.1 innings. He has struggled to reach that six inning plateau in the majority of his starts due to the amount of walks he has issued. He has already walked 21 and averages walking two to four batters a game.
Archer has always seemed to struggle with his walks, but makes up for it with his high strikeout rate. One thing Archer has shown so far in his young career, is that he is always a threat to strikeout 10+ batters a game, a stat which fantasy owners love.
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Chris Archer’s high strikeout potential is one of the main reasons fantasy owners out there should not look too much into his lackluster start. While Archer has struggled with his accuracy this season, look for him to to develop better control as the 2016 season rolls on. His current 4.57 ERA should steadily decrease as he accumulates more starts. Archer is still the franchise’s ace. Not Drew Smyly, Matt Moore, or even Alex Cobb when he returns, it’s Archer.