Chris Archer dealing with death of mother, to rejoin Rays soon

Pitcher Chris Archer is expected to rejoin the Rays in the relatively near future following the death last week of his mother, Donna.

Donna Archer died May 1 at the age of 71 in their hometown of Clayton, N.C., with Chris and her husband, Ron, at her side.

Archer had been away from the team since shortly after leaving his April 10 start with an elbow injury, attending to what the Rays said only was a private family matter.

The Rays on Saturday shifted Archer from the 10-day to 60-day injured list, which pushes his return into June. Given the amount of time he has been sidelined, that is probably about the same timeframe when he would be built back up to pitch in games anyway.

Archer, 32, rejoined the Rays this season on a one-year, $6.5 million deal. He spent parts of seven seasons with the Rays before being traded to Pittsburgh in July 2018 and sat out last season following thoracic outlet surgery syndrome.

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