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Houston Astros: Three reasons why Dallas Keuchel should be brought back

By Brian K. Patterson

Free agent LHP Dallas Keuchel, whom should be re-signed by the Houston Astros (Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images)
Free agent LHP Dallas Keuchel, whom should be re-signed by the Houston Astros (Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images) /
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NEW YORK – FEBRUARY 22: (L-R) MLB players Justin Verlander, Dallas Keuchel and Lance McCullers Jr. on the red carpet at the “#LEGENDARYFUTURE” Roadshow 2018 New York on February 22, 2018. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Breitling)
NEW YORK – FEBRUARY 22: (L-R) MLB players Justin Verlander, Dallas Keuchel and Lance McCullers Jr. on the red carpet at the “#LEGENDARYFUTURE” Roadshow 2018 New York on February 22, 2018. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Breitling) /

Reason #2: The most masterful trait in Keuchel’s arsenal

What if I told you that Keuchel is one of the most successful starting lefties in today’s era of MLB?  It’s not too much of a stretch but this man is truly in a league of just a chosen few.  Think of names such as Clayton Kershaw, Chris Sale and David Price circling around Keuchel.

Keuchel’s most masterful trait? VALUE and he has tons of it oozing out of him.

Although there’s no doubt that the aforementioned had better seasons than he, it goes to show what tremendous value he had in proportion to the $13.2 million in earnings he made this past season.

Keuchel’s 2.6 WAR lags behind all three of those guys — Sale (6.9), Price (4.4) and Kershaw (4.0) but it goes to show that his name deserved to be mentioned among this list.

Why?

Only Price had a better ERA (3.58) — but just marginally — through at least 30 starts compared to Keuchel’s 34 starts and 3.74 ERA in 2018.  Kershaw (2.73) started 26 games and Sale (2.11) started 21.

I’m not saying that Keuchel is as great as these players but I think with his familiarity with the Houston Astros‘ respected system — he’s the most-tenured with Jose Altuve and Gonzalez — his value remains high and he’s going to get offers.

In addition, one thing that you can count on with Keuchel is that he’s not going to give up the long ball that often.

Related Story. The top four options to replace Marwin Gonzalez. light

Among AL starting pitchers, he was tied for the second-fewest homers (18) given up through 2018, mentioned among the likes of Charlie Morton and the Oakland A’s Daniel Mengden, who was a former prospect of the Houston Astros by the way.  Both of the latter also gave up 18 each as well.

In addition, no other pitcher in the AL generated as many groundouts (286) as Keuchel back in 2018.  That’s definitely what you want to see in a starting pitcher, ensuring the ball travels as low and as short of a distance as possible to generate outs.

Besides, who could the Houston Astros get to replace the production of Keuchel?  I’ll save that information for another piece but if the team doesn’t want to create themselves a problem, they better go on and try to get something hammered out with the bearded wonder.

What’s another factor?  Keep reading to learn more.

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