5 Starting Pitchers Who Need to Avoid Another Slow Start

Chris Archer, Tampa Bay Rays

Chris Archer's month of April for the Tampa Bay Rays was awfully fascinating.

The good part was his strikeout rate, which was the second best among this group of struggling starters at 29.4%. The bad part was that when he didn't miss bats, the ball was hit very hard and traveled over the wall often.

If we once again use this group of 31 slow starts on the mound as the barometer, Archer's 44.3% hard-hit rate was the worst, and his 25.0% homer-to-fly-ball rate was tied for second worst.

Once May arrived, though, his ERA (3.83) and FIP (3.64) looked much better, while he was also able to maintain a 27.0% strikeout rate. A big reason for this change in production was an increase in ground balls induced -- he only saw this result 38.9% of the time in April, but that rose to 49.3% from May 1st through the end of the year.

Since he'll be taking the ball on opening day for the third consecutive year, it's imperative for him to set the tone for the rest of this starting staff. In order to do that, Archer needs to avoid another rough April and hit his stride much earlier.