Chris Archer is Loved at Home

Of the three pitchers the Cubs received for Mark DeRosa, A-baller Chris Archer is perhaps the most interesting.

He’s still just a kid – drafted out of high school in 2006. And his hometown newspaper still loves him.

Archer originally signed a letter of intent to attend the University of Miami (Fla.) on a scholarship. He was drafted in the late fifth round (No. 161 overall) of the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft on June 6 by the Cleveland Indians after initially rejecting offers from the Chicago White Sox and Texas Rangers early in the round. claytonnews-star.com.

Hating on the White Sox from the word go!

In 2007, Archer was 1-7 with a 5.64 ERA with the GCL Indians, a Rookie-Ball squad (Low Class A). He started 11 games and worked 52.7 innings, allowing 56 hits and 33 earned runs with 48 strikeouts and 21 walks.

Later in the year, he moved to Class A ball at Lake County, Ohio. He appeared in one game, throwing four innings while allowing five hits and four earned runs with five strikeouts and three walks for an ERA of 9.00.

This past year at Lake County, Archer started 27 games for the Captains, going 4-8 with a 4.29 ERA [throwing ]115.1 innings, allowing 92 hits and 55 earned runs while striking out 106 batters. He also allowed 84 walks and eight home runs and hit 11 batters.

The ERA is nothing exciting, and neither are the walks – but 106 Ks in 115 innings as a 19 year old in low A? That indicates that this kid has some good stuff.

Stevens and Gaub have better stats and are more likely to be recognizable names in the near future, but if the Cubs actually hang onto any of these guys, and we reflect on the Mark DeRosa deal some years from now, Archer might be the guy we were happiest to get.