CINCINNATI — Chris Archer sipped a cup of coffee and sat in a padded steel chair in front of his locker stall while some of his teammates began to pack their belongings in preparation for the season finale at Great American Ball Park.
Archer, who turned 30 four days earlier, was supposed to take the mound for Game 161 until the Pirates shut him down because of a lingering groin injury. Instead, he watched the extra-inning win from the dugout and began to reflect on his 27 starts, many of which he wished he could have back.
Only 10 of those were for the Pirates and the final five — including six scoreless innings at Wrigley Field in his final start — had him hopeful for what's next. Still, he let out a loud sigh between sips when thinking back to a season unlike any he's experienced in the major leagues.
"I’ll say this, I learned a lot in 2018 and I got a lot better," Archer told DKPittsburghSports.com. "The only way to learn and get better is to fail. I’m glad it’s over, for sure. I did learn a lot, so I’m not upset with the season. It sucks that the back of my baseball card shows, technically, the worst season of my career, but I learned so much."
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