Archer: It's 'an honor' to pitch for USA at WBC
With Max Scherzer having already committed, Team USA added another All-Star arm to its rotation for the 2017 World Baseball Classic.
Tampa Bay Rays right-hander Chris Archer officially committed to pitch for his country next spring, calling the opportunity "an honor."
"I know not everybody gets asked, not everybody gets invited. It's been one of my dreams to do since it started in 2006," Archer told Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. "I was in high school and I remember watching it saying one day it would be really, really cool.
"Since we don't have the Olympics this is basically the Olympics of our sport. It's the pinnacle of international play for our sport. It's all major leaguers. It's highly competitive. I'm stoked to be a part of it, and representing USA baseball.''
Archer, born and raised in North Carolina, is coming off a down year but still managed to rack up 233 strikeouts over 201 1/3 innings. He finished the season 9-19 with a career-worst 4.02 ERA, though he did post a 3.25 ERA and 1.01 WHIP in the second-half of the season.
The U.S. open play in March at Marlins Park in Miami in Pool C along with Canada, Colombia, and the reigning champion Dominican Republic.