Dallas Keuchel made his first appearance for Triple-A Round Rock on Tuesday night as he faced the Sugar Land Space Cowboys.
Keuchel signed a minor-league contract with the Texas Rangers last week.
He started the game by throwing four shutout innings for the Express, but ran into some trouble in the fifth inning. He left after throwing 4 1/3 innings and giving up just three hits and one run (earned). He walked three and struck out five.
In an interesting twist, Keuchel was squaring off with Lance McCullers Jr., who is currently on a rehab assignment with the Houston Astros’ Triple-A affiliate. McCullers, like Keuchel, is a former All-Star and was part of the Astros’ 2017 World Series championship.
The Rangers are in need of more starting pitching, but it’s unclear if Keuchel is an immediate option. The Rangers had two reliable starters in veterans Martin Pérez and Jon Gray, the latter of which joined the Rangers on a four-year, $56 million contract last offseason. But Gray is out for the next four to six weeks with a left oblique strain suffered on Monday night.
The rest of the rotation is filled with young starters like Glenn Otto, Spencer Howard and Dane Dunning, all of whom have shown flashes of solid pitching but have been inconsistent all season.
Keuchel made 12 starts for the Chicago White Sox and the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2022 and has a 2-7 record with an 8.53 ERA.
Signing Keuchel, 34, is a flier and Texas hopes he can reclaim the form that made him one of the game’s best pitchers. He won the 2015 American League Cy Young Award with the Astros. He is also a two-time All-Star and a five-time Gold Glove Award winner.
He has a career record of 101-89, with his Cy Young season being his best. He went 20-8 that year with a 2.48 ERA.
Keuchel hasn’t had any significant injury issues in his career, but he hasn’t won at least 10 games since the 12 he won with the Astros in 2018.
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