Chris Archer Placed on 10-Day DL with Abdominal Injury; Diego Castillo Recalled

An injured abdominal muscle has forced Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Chris Archer to the disabled list. 

The Rays announced on Tuesday that Archer was diagnosed with a strained left abdominal and placed on the 10-day DL retroactive to June 3. 

Right-handed pitcher Diego Castillo, who has a 1.03 ERA in 26.1 innings as a reliever, was recalled from Triple-A. 

Archer left Saturday's start against the Seattle Mariners after five innings with groin tightness, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. 

The 29-year-old has been durable throughout his career, averaging 33 starts and 202 innings per season from 2014-17. Even a forearm issue at the end of last season didn't prevent him from making a league-high 34 starts.

In addition to just staying healthy, Archer remains an elite threat on the mound with two All-Star appearances in the previous three seasons. Even with an ERA that jumped to 4.07 in 2017, he still ranked fourth in the majors with 249 strikeouts.

While the Rays made several significant changes during the offseason, including trades of Evan Longoria, Jake Odorizzi, Steven Souza and more. 

Tampa Bay's dealt with its share of injuries to pitchers this season. Jose De Leon, Brent Honeywell and Anthony Banda are all out for the year after undergoing Tommy John surgery. 

Archer has struggled with consistency in 2018 with a 4.24 ERA and career-high 1.336 WHIP in 13 starts. 

The Rays will need young players like Jake Faria and Blake Snell to step up for as long as Archer is unavailable. They have also experimented with relievers starting games to ease the burden on their undermanned rotation.