When Chris Archer returned to Tampa Bay as a free agent, he said one of the first things he said to general manager Erik Neander was that he is willing to work in whatever role is best for the team. Usually that means you have to be a starting pitcher as he always has been. That could also mean throwing after an opener.
When Archer officially returns to the Rays on Saturday, that means he will have to pitch out of the bullpen after Rich Hill, another veteran starter who was brought on board in the off-season. Hill is scheduled to start Saturday night (6:10 ET, live on MLB.TV) against the Marlins at the loaned Depot Park, and Archer will also pitch at some point in the game.
The two veterans will be separated during the rotation next time to pitch on different days, but this arrangement made sense for both given the Rays ‘early schedule and their attention to pitchers’ workload this season. Tampa Bay has an off-day on Sunday and another Thursday, so there was no real need to start the season with a traditional five-man rotation.
Instead, Hill and Archer can start the season quietly by throwing a handful of innings each in some sort of tandem start – one that could be quite effective given the different challenges each brings up the hill.
“I think that’s the purpose of this first game, to have that contrast, to enable us not to carry too much of a load straight out of the gate, and I’m looking forward to it,” said Archer. “I look forward to following him and, when my number is called, going in and out.”
Manager Kevin Cash said he will speak with pitching coach Kyle Snyder to get an idea of the kind of use that Hill and Archer are prepared for and who can jump back to a higher number of pitchers the next time they break up. The Rays understand the value of different looks at opponents, and they don’t get much different from Hill and Archer. Hill is a lefty who relies on his curveball and a fastball that averages 89-90mph in recent years, while Archer throws in the mid-90s with a slider as his primary breaking ball.
“It just goes out and gets executed,” Hill said. “I think the complementary part is going to be great, but again it’s going out and getting ready to execute. That is it. That’s really the most important thing for me, for Chris, for everyone. “
Archer hasn’t been thrown out of the bullpen in a regular season game since September 29, 2012, but he got a sense of what it takes to prepare for Spring Training. On March 19, Hill worked 2 2/3 innings against the Red Sox, then Archer took over in the fourth and worked two clean innings with two strikeouts.
Archer said that despite the results, he didn’t feel like he was quite ready for that outing physically. So don’t be surprised if you see Archer moving through the bullpen during the game or seeing a long pitch in the outfield between innings.
Archer said he will be so focused on his prep that the significance of getting back up the hill in a Rays uniform for the first time since 2018 may not even sink in until he’s done throwing.
“There will be extra nostalgia, but it will probably be more from a reflection point of view, because at the moment I will have a job to do. And it’s a job that’s a bit strange, so I’m going to have to hyper-focus on that, ”said Archer. ‘I’m glad we got all this out of the way in the spring. I’ve already thrown several games. I’ve already come out of the bullpen. So at this point I just have to go out and execute, and I’m really, really looking forward to doing that in the baby blue. “
Cash previously said the Rays planned to get all their position players involved right away, and that proved true on Friday when he shook up the bottom half of the lineup. Joey Wendle started at short stop, Manuel Margot in midfield and Francisco Mejía behind the plate while Willy Adames, Kevin Kiermaier and Mike Zunino did not start. The top five batters remained the same: Yoshi Tsutsugo, Austin Meadows, Randy Arozarena, Brandon Lowe and Yandy Díaz.
• Thursday was the 37th 1-0 victory in club history, but only the second time in franchise history did the Rays shutout the Opening Day and join their 7-0 victory against the Twins in 2000. 44 1-0 shutouts on Opening Day, and the Rays became the first American League club to win a 1-0 game as a visiting squad on Opening Day since the 1946 Indians.
• Glasnow’s dominant opening day was his ninth scoreless start since joining the Rays. He didn’t have one before being traded to Tampa Bay.
• On Thursday, Austin Meadows became the fourth Rays player with multiple homers on opening day, joining Evan Longoria (four), Gerald Williams and Ben Zobrist (both two). It was the ninth time since at least 1901 that a solo homerun was the only time of an opening day game, and only the third time for an AL team.