Dallas Keuchel (, ; born January 1, 1988) is an American professional baseball pitcher in the Kansas City Royals organization. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Houston Astros, Atlanta Braves, Chicago White Sox, Arizona Diamondbacks, Texas Rangers, Minnesota Twins, and Milwaukee Brewers, and in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for the Chiba Lotte Marines.
Keuchel attended the University of Arkansas, where he played baseball for the Arkansas Razorbacks. Keuchel made his MLB debut in 2012. In 2014, he was awarded both the Gold Glove Award and the Fielding Bible Award. Keuchel was named the starting pitcher for the American League in the 2015 MLB All-Star Game. Following the 2015 season, he won the American League Cy Young Award along with his second Gold Glove and Fielding Bible Awards. Keuchel was a member of the World Series champion 2017 Houston Astros. He played for the Atlanta Braves in 2019 and signed a three-year contract with the Chicago White Sox before the 2020 season. The White Sox designated Keuchel for assignment and subsequently released him in May 2022. Later in the year he was signed first by the Arizona Diamondbacks and then by the Texas Rangers, both of which later designated him for assignment. He is a two-time All-Star and a five-time Gold Glove winner.
During the 2009 season, Keuchel led the Razorbacks as the Friday-night ace. The final regular season series was against Drew Pomeranz and #9 Ole Miss at Baum Stadium. The Razorbacks committed four errors in Keuchel's last regular season start, and he was tagged with the loss, ending the regular season with a 7–3 record. However, Keuchel led the Arkansas pitching staff to the 2009 College World Series in Omaha. Arkansas finished the CWS 3rd nationally that season.Kleinpeter, Jim. "College World Series: LSU vs. Texas." June 20, 2009. Article. The Times-Picayune. Retrieved on June 20, 2009. Archived June 22, 2009.
Keuchel began the 2012 season with Oklahoma City.
In 2014, Keuchel had a 9–5 win–loss record and a 3.20 ERA at the All-Star break, and was a finalist for the final American League (AL) roster spot in the 2014 MLB All-Star Game. He finished the season with a 12–9 record and a 2.93 ERA. For his defense, Keuchel won both the Gold Glove Award and Fielding Bible Award.
On August 1, Keuchel yielded two runs on two hits over six innings and struck out 8 to move to 13–5. It was Keuchel's 33rd consecutive games going at least 6 innings, which set a franchise record. He won his third AL Pitcher of the Month Award for August, after pitching to a 4–1 record and a 1.94 ERA in six starts.
On September 27, Keuchel established the club record for strikeouts for a left-hander when he fanned Mike Napoli in the first inning, one of 10 strikeouts versus Texas to pass Mike Cuellar, who had 203 for Houston in 1967.
With a 15–0 record and 1.46 ERA at Daikin Park, Keuchel established the major league record for most victories at home while remaining undefeated there in one season. Prior to Keuchel, rotations mates Dave Ferriss and Tex Hughson shared the record while with the 1946 Boston Red Sox, each going 13–0 at Fenway Park. Keuchel's ERA was also the lowest home ERA by an AL pitcher since Nolan Ryan surrendered just a 1.07 figure for the 1972 California Angels.
Keuchel's overall record for the year was 20–8, and he had a 2.48 ERA and 216 strikeouts. "Dallas Keuchel Statistics and History". baseball-reference.com. Retrieved November 18, 2015. Among major league pitchers, he gave up the lowest percentage of hard-hit balls (21.3%). He threw 3,492 pitches, more than any other major league pitcher.
Keuchel started and won the AL Wild Card Game versus the New York Yankees on three days' rest. On October 11, he followed up by beating the Kansas City Royals, 4–2, in Game 3 of the AL Divisional Series (ALDS) while remaining undefeated at home in 2015 and move the Astros within one game of advancing. In Game 5, Keuchel was brought in for a relief appearance on just two days of rest in the 8th inning; however, he surrendered a three-run home run as the Royals extended their lead to 7–2, which they held on to win the game and the series. Following the season, Keuchel won the Cy Young Award, the Gold Glove Award, the Fielding Bible Award, and the Warren Spahn Award, given to the best left-handed pitcher in MLB. Keuchel became the third Astro to win a Cy Young Award.
Keuchel finished 2017 making 23 starts with a 14–5 record and a 2.90 ERA. The Astros won the American League West division with a 101–61 record to reach the postseason for the second time in three seasons. In the 2017 American League Division Series, the Astros faced the Boston Red Sox, and Keuchel started Game 2. He pitched innings while allowing one run on three hits with seven strikeouts as Houston won 8–2 before winning the series two games later.
Keuchel started Game 1 of the 2017 American League Championship Series against the New York Yankees, which resulted in seven scoreless innings while allowing just four hits with ten strikeouts in a 2–1 victory. He started Game 5 five days later, but he lasted just innings while allowing four runs on seven hits in a 5–0 loss. However, the Astros won the pennant a couple of days later to advance to their first World Series in twelve years.
In the 2017 World Series, Keuchel was tapped to start Game 1; he allowed three runs on six hits in innings of work that saw him take the loss in a 3–1 result. He pitched once more in Game 5, which saw him last just innings and allow four runs on five hits, but the Astros battled in a classic back-and-forth game that saw them win 13–12 in ten innings. The Astros won the series days later to give Keuchel a World Series ring; he went 2–2 in the 2017 postseason.
Three years later, it was revealed in the Houston Astros sign stealing scandal that the Astros had broken MLB rules during the 2017 season. Keuchel subsequently apologized for his role in the scandal.Rogers, Jesse. "Dallas Keuchel apologizes for sign stealing, says ex-teammates should as well". espn.com. January 24, 2020. Retrieved February 15, 2020.
Keuchel struggled in 2021, compiling a 9–9 record and an ERA of 5.28 in 30 starts. He gave up 189 hits and 105 runs in 162 innings and struck out 95 batters, striking out fewer batters per 9 innings (5.28) than any other pitcher in the major leagues. However, he did receive his fifth Gold Glove Award. During the second half of the season, his ERA was 6.82 and he struggled with a back injury.
In 2022, Keuchel had a 7.88 ERA for the White Sox in eight games started. On May 28, the White Sox designated Keuchel for assignment. He was released on May 30.
After signing with the White Sox, Keuchel purchased a $2 million home in the Lake View neighborhood of Chicago. Keuchel is Catholic Church.
2015: Cy Young Award
2016
2017
2018
Atlanta Braves (2019)
Chicago White Sox (2020–2022)
Arizona Diamondbacks (2022)
Texas Rangers (2022)
Minnesota Twins (2023)
Seattle Mariners (2024)
Milwaukee Brewers (2024)
Chiba Lotte Marines (2024)
Kansas City Royals (2025)
Pitching style
Personal life
See also
External links
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