This was supposed to be the year for Chris Archer.
After plenty of struggles since the July 2018 trade that brought Archer to Pittsburgh, the right-handed starter seemingly had a new lease on life. He arrived at spring training with his dreadlocks sheared. New pitching coach Oscar Marin was supposed to unlock Archer's potential, while the 31-year-old sought to strip it down, simplify and get back to being himself.
Those plans have been put on hold, perhaps permanently, as Archer on Tuesday underwent surgery to relieve symptoms of neurogenic thoracic outlet syndrome, ending his 2020 season before it ever really started and casting doubt on his future with the Pirates.
"Unbelievably sad news for Chris, and we feel that," Pirates director of sports medicine Todd Tomczyk said. "But a silver lining: I'm confident, and I'm sure Chris will express confidence, that there will be a full return."
Thoracic outlet syndrome isn't a terribly common surgery for pitchers to have, which made this process a little more complicated, Tomczyk and Pirates general manager Ben Cherington explained. The damage can be accrued, as opposed to any sort of flashpoint where something snaps.
In Archer, it seems the accrual of damage was in his neck.
"On average, from (talking to) notable vascular surgeons, it can take up nine years to make a diagnosis," Tomczyk said. "A lot of doctors think these injuries cause the scar tissue in one of the muscles of the anterior neck, and over time, it becomes so scarred down that it unfortunately affects their ability to throw and compete."
Archer had been on a throwing program during this quarantine period, Tomczyk said, but several weeks ago he started to experience sporadic symptoms _ sometimes hours or days after a session. They were similar enough to some neck issues Archer had reported toward the end of spring training, which came after Archer missed his first spring start because of neck discomfort.
"What's consistent with TOS is the inconsistencies," Tomczyk said. "So that's what makes it sometimes challenging to make a clear-cut diagnosis. But Chris is and was very diligent with marking down what he felt, and when he felt it, to help himself and help us and the physicians really pin down the correct diagnosis so we could help him move forward."
Archer's surgery was performed by Dr. Robert Thompson at Washington University in St. Louis. Tomczyk said Archer will remain in St. Louis for the time being before traveling back home to Florida. Archer will have a post-op visit in about a month and could be cleared to throw in as little as six months.
If TOS sounds familiar, it's because that's what ended Nick Burdi's season in 2019. Tomczyk, however, dismissed any comparisons between the two as "oranges to apples" since Burdi's issues were contained to the area around his elbow.
Tomczyk did say that Archer's "shoulder and elbow structures are very good," reminding that the bulk of his pain has been in the neck. Initially, doctors had ruled out TOS, Tomczyk added, although this can be a tricky diagnosis because there's not a ton of information available.
"The literature isn't as robust as you would see for another body part, like UCL reconstructive surgery," Tomczyk said.
Archer was expected to anchor the Pirates' starting rotation, which was already missing Jameson Taillon.
Coming off a year in which he pitched to a career-high 5.19 ERA and allowed 1.9 home runs per nine innings (also the worst of his nine-year career), Archer was looking to rely more on his four-seam fastball and slider and parlay a revamped offseason program into better results.
"I don't want to say a whole lot. I just want to go out there and show people," Archer said in February. "I feel like I'm in a really good spot. I know myself. I know there's more room to grow. I'm going to tinker with that in spring. It's going to be a much better version of myself than it was last year, for sure."
The Pirates acquired Archer from the Rays for Austin Meadows, Tyler Glasnow and Shane Baz in 2018, with Archer (back then) serving as the centerpiece in what has become one of the most lopsided trades in franchise history.
After several terrific years with the Tampa Bay Rays, Archer was supposed to come to Pittsburgh and guide a young rotation, racking up plenty of strikeouts along the way.
That obviously hasn't happened.
Instead, Archer spoke last season about feeling like he had to conform to the Pirates' ways, pitching to contact and flirting with a two-seam fastball he has since shelved.
Archer won three games for the Pirates in 2018 and three more last year, looking good on occasion but also lacking efficiency with his pitch count and making too many mistakes out over the plate.
This offseason, the Pirates stood behind Archer by picking up his $9 million option, choosing that over a $1.75 million buyout.
"We are encouraged about the progression Chris made in the second half of last season and look forward to him being a part of our rotation in 2020," assistant general manager Kevan Graves said in a statement announcing the move.
Graves was serving as the interim GM at the time.
The move to pick up Archer's option could have financial ramifications relative to MLB's ongoing labor dispute.
If there is a season, Archer will be paid and accrue service time, forcing the Pirates into a tough decision this winter: Do they cut bait and buy Archer out for $250,000? Or do they pick up his $11 million option for 2021, hope he figures it out and flip him at the deadline?
Archer's injury also takes away one of Cherington's potential plays if a season does indeed happen; Cherington likely won't get much for Archer on the trade market given his recent performance and current injury status.
"We won't have games to evaluate, but there will be other information that we have at that time that we don't have now," Cherington said. "We want to take all the time we possibly can until we have no time remaining, and then make the best decision we can at that time."
