I Respect Chris Archer For How Seriously He Is Taking His Role As The Ace Of Team USA

. @ChrisArcher22 spoke today about the goal of promoting unity through our national pastime at #WBC2017. @MLB pic.twitter.com/BoK2oZUegC

— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) March 7, 2017

Chris Archer is a pretty polarizing guy for fans of other teams when it comes to whether or not they like him. However, it's tough not to respect how seriously he is taking his role as staff ace for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic. Realistically he shouldn't be near the front of our rotation. If the best players all played USA could have any combination of Kershaw, Bumgarner, Sale, Price, Arrieta, Syndergaard, Kluber, etc. Instead we have Archer, Marcus Stroman, and Danny Duffy pitching in round one this upcoming weekend. It isn't a bad rotation, but it isn't great either.

If you take a quick look at Archer's 2016 it doesn't look very good. A breakout candidate entering the year Archer posted a 4.02 ERA and led the majors with 19 losses. A closer look reveals that Archer was both bad and unlucky in the first half of the season, but All-Star caliber in the second half. The biggest problem early on was Archer's command as he was walking 3.93 batters per nine innings and was also falling victim to unsustainably high BABIP and home run rates. Fortunately for Archer when his command improved so did his luck. In the second half he posted a 3.25 ERA and ranked fifth in strikeout minus walk ratio. This went largely unnoticed since Tampa Bay was well out of the playoff race, but his second half strongly resembled the pitcher he was in 2015 that led to many thinking '16 would be his breakout. 

Anyways, there's a chance Archer's time as USA ace could be extremely brief. Due to pitch counts he could throw three or four innings Friday night and if USA doesn't take care of business there's no guarantee he gets a second start. He could also lead the team tot heir first ever WBC championship game. Either way I respect him for being out there and taking this seriously. I don't blame any player who chooses to prepare for the season and the MLB team that pays them. I just know that when I watch the WBC I want to watch players who really want to be there. However you may feel about Archer just know he wants to be there. I'll be rooting for him Friday night.