Pittsburgh Pirates: How to Work With Chris Archer’s Suspension

The Pittsburgh Pirates had a bench-clearing skirmish with the Cincinnati Reds this past weekend.  Several players were suspended by the league.

This past weekend was a big sweep for the Pittsburgh Pirates.  The Bucs hosted their division rival Cincinnati Reds and took all four games away from them.  However, that was not the biggest headline at the end of the series on Sunday.

Instead, both teams saw their benches clear during the fourth inning on Sunday.  Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Chris Archer threw behind Reds utility player Derek Dietrich.  Immediately following the pitch Archer was given a warning by the home plate umpire, and right after the warning was given, Reds manager David Bell came out yelling toward the umpire.

Within the next couple of seconds, benches started to clear.  Reds outfielder Yasiel Puig very aggressively charged out toward the mound and a scuffle ensued.  Puig was eventually restrained by Reds first baseman Joey Votto and Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Melky Cabrera.  By the end of it Yasiel Puig, pitcher Amir Garrett, and David Bell were thrown out of the game.  Meanwhile, Keone Kela and Felipe Vazquez were tossed out for the Bucs.

There obviously was going to be suspensions handed out from this skirmish on the mound.  Yesterday, Major League Baseball announced their planned suspensions.  For the Reds, manager David Bell received one game while Puig will have to sit out two games.  The Bucs only had Chris Archer suspended, who was not even thrown out of the original game, but there likely was intent with the pitch after Dietrich admired his home run earlier in the game.

Archer has received a five-game suspension, essentially one start.  However, the Bucs can get creative with their rotation over the next week and not have to replace Archer’s spot in the rotation.  Archer’s next start is slated to be this upcoming Saturday against the Washington Nationals.

He could appeal his suspension and make the start.  Then, by Sunday, the former Ray could drop his appeal and start serving the given suspension.  The team has two days off next week and could shuffle their rotation around those off days.  The rotation would look like this: Jameson Taillon (Sunday), off day (Monday), Jordan Lyles (Tuesday), Joe Musgrove (Wednesday), off day (Thursday), Trevor Williams (Friday), and Jameson Taillon (Saturday).

This would then complete Archer’s five-game suspension and allow him to start Sunday, April 21st.  All in all, the Pittsburgh Pirates will not really be all the hurt by Archer’s suspension.  They will not have to use a lesser spot starter to fill the void for a game.  Meanwhile, the team will be able to keep their rotation on normal rest.