Twins Place Struggling Starter On IL

He left Saturday's start after just two innings due to pectoral tightness, now Minnesota Twins right-hander Chris Archer is headed to the injured list.

Chris Archer is headed to the IL with the pec injury that got him pulled early from yesterday's start. Jharel Cotton back up from Triple-A St. Paul today.

Archer expressed confidence that he'd be back after the 15 days.

— Do-Hyoung Park (@dohyoungpark) September 11, 2022

Archer is hopeful that he'll be able to return in the minimum 15 days, as reported by Twins beat writer Do-Hyoung Park. 

“He didn’t look like himself from the very beginning of the outing,” Baldelli said. “He was getting worked on in the tunnel (between innings). I didn't realize it was his pec even. He was getting a couple of things worked on. That combined with just general mannerisms and understanding him and where he's at, I knew physically he wasn't feeling really good. Then combining that with obviously what we were seeing out on the field, both command and stuff were off.”

Archer hasn't gone deeper than five innings in any of his 25 starts this season. He's struggled horribly, especially of late. 

Chris Archer's last 10 starts (before today), Twins are 1-9, while he is personally 0-4 with a 6.23 ERA. His last personal win came on June 25.

— Brian Hall (@MNBrianHall) September 11, 2022

The 33-year-old was 0-4 with a 6.23 ERA in his previous 10 starts. the Twins had lost 9 of those 10. Overall, he has a 4.56 ERA and a 1.31 WHIP, along with a 2-8 record. 

The Twins are slumping as a whole, having lost 8 of their last 10 games, and have dropped to 69-69, 3.5 games behind the Cleveland Guardians, and 2.0 back of the Chicago White Sox, in the battle for the AL Central, and a way into the post-season. The Wild Card seems out of reach for both the Twins (8.5 back) and the ChiSox (6.5 back).

Photo: Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports, Michael McLoone-USA TODAY Sports