Major League Baseball

Rays’ Archer could be out until after All-Star break

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 12:22 p.m. ET

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) Tampa Bay Rays right-hander Chris Archer has no timetable for throwing off a mound again and could be sidelined through the All-Star break.

Archer has been on the 10-day disabled list since June 3 with a left abdominal strain. He felt discomfort after a 22-pitch mound session Saturday.

''If I'm on the DL, I want to come back 100 percent because I'm not doing anybody any favors by coming back less than that,'' Archer said. ''Nothing has changed as far as the injury or the severity, I just need more time to rest.''

Archer, the Rays' opening-day starter, is 3-4 with 4.24 ERA in 13 starts.

''It's going to take me a couple starts in the minors to get stretched out and the All-Star break is just a month away,'' he said Tuesday.

Rays manager Kevin Cash is advocating for a cautious approach.

''He just doesn't feel quite right, for whatever reason,'' Cash said. ''We've got to allow him the time to make sure that when he gets back off a mound again that he doesn't feel it. The last thing you want him to do is try to pitch through something and alter his mechanics, alter his delivery to where it affects something more seriously like this arm.''

Cash said the 29-year-old Archer will take a couple days off before playing catch.

Also Tuesday, Tampa Bay announced it had reached a deal with left-hander Matthew Liberatore, its first-round pick in the amateur draft. The 18-year-old from Mountain Ridge High School in Arizona was taken 16th overall.

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