At the start of the season, Chris Archer was considered the ace of the Tampa Bay Rays staff as he was coming off the 2015 season in which he was an All-Star, was fifth in the Cy Young voting and second in the league in strikeouts.
Expectations over the offseason had increased based upon his performance in 2015 and Archer, being the scholarly and very likeable person he is took it all in stride.
In addition, during last year’s postseason he did pre-game analysis which received great reviews and he become the ultimate voice of the Tampa Bay Rays in regards to their trip this past spring to Cuba.