Last night, Tampa Bay Rays starter Chris Archer lost his American League leading 17th game of the season as the Boston Red Sox bested him 2-1. (Archer is an abysmal 1-10 against the Bosox during his five year big league career). Remove the Red Sox from the equation and he's a .500 pitcher (39-39).
With still a left week in August, Archer is now 7-17 on the season. Archer has seven more starts left this season which means he could become the first MLB pitcher to lose 20 games in a season since Mike Maroth lost 21 games for the 2003 Detroit Tigers. Of course, most clubs like to avoid having their pitchers lose 20 games in a season. So it's quite possible the Rays could take Archer out of the rotation or shut him down for the season. But I can think of good reason they might not do so.
Despite recording his 17th loss of the season last night, Archer also fanned six batters. That in of itself isn't that impressive unless you consider the fact that he leads the American League with 192 strikeouts.
Whether or not Archer loses 20 games this season, there is a good chance that Archer he could do what hasn't been done in over 60 years - lead the league in losses while leading the league in strikeouts.
The last time that was done was back in 1955 when a rookie pitcher for the Chicago Cubs named Sam Jones went 14-20 with a 4.10 ERA but struck out 198 batters. Jones also led the league in walks with an astounding 185. The walks didn't keep him from earning neither a NL All-Star Team selection and a no-hitter against the Pittsburgh Pirates. In fact, Jones would become the first black pitcher to throw a no-hitter in MLB history.
Jones would lead the NL in both strikeouts and walks again in 1956 and 1958. Jones' best season came in 1959 with the San Francisco Giants when led the NL wins (21), ERA (2.83) while finishing second to Don Drysdale in strikeouts with 209. He would finish runner up to Early Wynn in Cy Young balloting (which at that time covered both the AL and NL). Sadly, Jones died of cancer in 1971 at the age of 45.
Hopefully, Archer will have a longer, healthier life (he turns 28 next month). If nothing else, Archer has much better control. While I'm sure Archer would rather not lose 20 games much less be the owner of a 7-17 record, he can take comfort that he has walked only 58 batters in 162 innings pitched this season whereas Jones' 185 walks in 1955 came in 241 2/3 innings. Even when Archer has pitched badly, he hasn't been that bad.
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