Dallas Keuchel put together his most encouraging start yet for the Triple-A Round Rock Express on Friday night against El Paso.
Keuchel, making his fourth start with the Express, threw seven innings of scoreless baseball, giving up four hits and a walk while striking out six.
It was his second straight start in which he threw at least six innings. Against Oklahoma City on Aug. 13, he threw six innings, giving up four hits, two runs, four walks while striking out six.
Keuchel signed a minor-league contract with the Rangers last month.
In four games with Round Rock, dating back to his first start on Aug. 2 against Sugar Land, Keuchel has a 1-0 record with a 2.31 ERA. He’s given up six earned runs in 23 1/3 innings, along with 11 walks while striking out 22. He has a 1.03 WHIP.
The Rangers are in need of more starting pitching, and Keuchel may be throwing his way into the mix. Beyond Martin Pérez, the Rangers are without both Jon Gray and Spencer Howard due to injury. Gray joined the Rangers on a four-year, $56 million contract last offseason.
The Rangers called up Kohei Arihara from Triple-A earlier this week and he’s scheduled to pitch on Sunday. The rest of the starting rotation includes Dane Dunning and two rookies — Glenn Otto and Cole Ragans.
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 is a flier and a hope that he can reclaim the form that made him one of the game’s best pitchers. The 34-year-old won the 2015 American League Cy Young Award with the Houston 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 season 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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