Houston Astros: Three players due for a breakout in the ALDS
Player #2: Dallas Keuchel
Dallas Keuchel is finishing up his last season of arbitration and will be a free agent for the first time of his career when it’s all said and done after the postseason, whenever that may be. This season is all predicated on the success for the lefty to get paid as much money as he possibly can to secure his financial future.
It’s tough to gauge what his value would be on the open market but I’d imagine it’d be high, considering he’s a left-handed starter. I project that the Houston Astros will make him a reasonable, short-term offer but it won’t be enough. It’d shock me to no end if we see Keuchel as a member of the Houston Astros next season.
It’s been a nice run because he and Jose Altuve were one of the few bright spots to watch during those horrible years of Houston Astros baseball where triple-digit losses were the norm.
He’s come a long way and has become more dimensional with his pitch diversity and is extremely tactical when working through any given lineup. He doesn’t have to rely on his four-seam fastball that usually sits in the high 80s but his lethal sinker that’s extremely hard to hit off of when he’s feeling it.
Must Read. Astros vs. Indians: Assessing the ALDS roster. light
When it’s Keuchel’s turn to take the bump Monday afternoon in Game 3 of the ALDS, I think all of what I just mentioned will come to his mind and he will crush it.
Keuchel’s history against the Indians has been fairly kind — he has posted a 2.79 ERA, a slightly-below decent 1.28 WHIP and 6.6 K/9 through 51.2 career innings pitched.
He’ll have to keep an eye out on Michael Brantley, Melky Cabrera, Edwin Encarnacion, Jason Kipnis and Jose Ramirez who all have a batting average of at least .300 with a minimum of three at-bats.
I have a good feeling about Keuchel but his fate is certainly in his hands.