Dallas Keuchel Plus Texas: Match Made in Baseball Heaven?

Dallas Keuchel, 31, is a Cy Young winner, a two-time All-Star, a World Series champion, and jobless as of Friday, which brings up the biggest question. Why haven’t the Rangers grabbed the veteran lefty? The answer is obvious: they clearly haven’t read this article yet.

Dallas Keuchel belongs in a Texas Ranger uniform after a somewhat disappointing season in 2018 with the Houston Astros. Let’s jump in and compare what we have in Arlington vs what Keuchel has on the couch.

In 2018, Dallas Keuchel finished the season 12-11, starting 34 games over the season which led all of MLB. He was durable though, having 204.2 innings pitched, 153 strikeouts against just 58 walks while facing 874 batters, which also led the MLB according to baseballreference.com. Remember, this was a down year for Dallas, as he still posted a 3.74 ERA for the year. Being 31 years old, you have to believe that he still has gas in the tank, and he’s looking for his next opportunity.

Keuchel is trying to stay in shape while preparing, per Ken Rosenthal, reporting for Fox Sports:

“Keuchel is reportedly throwing 95-pitch simulated games every five days, but that is not the same as facing major-league hitters.”

The pitching staff for the Rangers has been, well, bad. Really bad. I mean so bad we’re talking about bringing Edison Volquez to a rotation when he hasn’t pitched in the pros in almost 2 seasons. And even then, Volquez was recently placed on the Injured List, which opens a rotation spot for either a young pitcher from the farm to come up. The Recliner Nerd John Moore has an excellent series on the top 20 prospects on dalsportsnation.com that includes great pitchers ready for a shot at the big leagues, but will it benefit the Rangers to bring them up so early? The answer is in Dallas, er, well Dallas Keuchel that is.

The starting rotation consists of Mike Minor, Lance Lynn, Drew Smyly, and Shelby Miller. Volquez was a part of it as well but is on the IL as we previously mentioned. The entire pitching staff has a 5.09 combined ERA so far this season and is floundering after a strong start to the season. The Rangers are averaging 4.8 runs per game, and have an ERA over 5, so it’s not hard to see the reason why they are inconsistent in the win-loss column. But Keuchel can help not only the Rangers but himself in the process if he takes a short term deal to join the club.

Check out these stats comparing the 2019 Rangers’ pitchers vs Dallas Keuchel’s last season in 2018.

If Dallas comes to town and performs even halfway decent through the next 2 months, teams that are in contention for the playoffs will come to call the Rangers to make a trade to ultimately make a push for the playoffs. Pitchers have value, and teams pony up for pitchers that will help them reach the promised land, the World Series. Now depending on if Keuchel signs a one or two year deal, the Rangers could easily land 2 or 3 prospects for the veteran if he’s performing well. He can step in and be the Rangers number two or 3 pitchers with the ability to be the best pitcher in the rotation.

The Rangers can call the lefty, give him a 2-year deal worth $30 million, and then deal him at the trade deadline. This is a potential situation that could help both parties, and it looks like a match made in baseball heaven waiting to happen.