At his peak during his time with the Chicago White Sox, the Dallas Keuchel pitched as a Cy Young Award nominee.
But the left could not find consistency during the latter part of last season and early 2022, and the Sox appointed him on Saturday to assign him.
Keuchel had a 2-5 record and a 7.88 ERA with 20 strikeouts in eight starts this season.
“Given the back of the baseball card, so to speak, we wanted to give him the opportunity this season to show that he was able to get back on the court,” said the general manager of Sox, Rick Hahn. “There weren’t necessarily a magic number of starts that would have been needed before this decision was made, and in fact, even though we’d been talking about this internally for a while, his starts against New York in our place (May 14) and Boston at Fenway (May 8) were impressive enough to keep giving him the ball.
“Obviously, the trend of the last couple (starts), especially (Thursday) night, was enough to say it was time to try something else in that place.”
Ahead of tonight’s opening game against the Chicago Cubs, the #WhiteSox nominated left-handed pitcher Dallas Keuchel for the commission and remembered AAA-class boxing player Danny Mendick Charlotte.
– Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) May 28, 2022
The left-hander, who won the 2015 American League Cy Young Award with the Houston Astros, was a major addition as he accepted a three-year, $ 55.5 million deal on December 30, 2019. The contract included an equipment option for 2023..
Keuchel, 34, was 17-16 with a 4.79 ERA in 51 appearances (49 starters) for the Sox.
“He has a lot to be proud of,” Sox coach Tony La Russa said. “It simply came to our notice then. I understand that I feel that I could have done better, that I should have done better. But I don’t think anyone in this uniform won’t change their career in the next 10 or 12 years for what they’ve done.
“I think this year he’s healthier than last year. He has games left, throwing, if there’s a team interested in him.”
He finished fifth in the pandemic shortlist of AL Cy Young in the 2020 season, 6-2 with a 1.99 ERA in 11 starts.
Keuchel was 9-9 with a 5.28 ERA in 32 starts (30 starts) last season. Keuchel, who won an AL gold glove in 2021, was 6-1 with a 3.78 ERA in his first 14 starts and was 3-8 with a 6.70 ERA his last 18 outings. He was placed on the taxi crew for the American League division series against the Astros.
During spring training, Keuchel said the end of 2021 left a “sour taste” and began launching before the low season than usual to prepare in hopes of a rebound season. .
He earned his 100th victory of his career on April 13 against the Seattle Mariners. He allowed 10 runs, seven wins, in 10 hits with a walk in one inning plus his next outing on April 20 in Cleveland. He came out after facing 11 batters in the second. The Sox made four mistakes in the 11-1 loss in the first game of a double header.
Keuchel allowed at least six runs in three of his eight starts this season.
“We definitely got what we expected in 2020 and during the first half or so in ’21,” Hahn said. “It was basically what we expected when we signed him, and unfortunately the last half of his career with the White Sox didn’t turn out as we expected. With any free agent signing, there’s a certain level of expectation, but there’s also reasonable projections at the end of the day, at least in terms of potential decline.
Keuchel had good starts this month in Boston (two runs in six innings on May 8) and against the New York Yankees (five white innings on May 14) before battling the Yankees on May 21 at Yankee Stadium ( six races in four innings) and Thursday. against the Red Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field (six runs in two innings).
“This club, for the first time in the franchise’s history, made the postseason in consecutive seasons in the ’20s and’ 21s, and it’s very likely that this wouldn’t happen without Dallas’ contributions during those two seasons,” he said. Hahn. “Obviously, in 2020, he was in the top five for Cy Young. Last year, especially in the first half, he had some important victories for us. I remember (them) against Toronto and Tampa (June 10 and 15). ) so we definitely delivered for the first half of this contract what we were looking for.
“This season’s stretch, apart from some impressive performances against Boston and New York, as well as many of the headlines in the second half of last year, showed that it did not live up to what we needed. he. this year. So, bottom line is that we’re really looking forward to your next stop. I just want to make sure his contributions don’t get lost here, because people are focusing on getting him removed from the club. “
In Saturday’s corresponding move, the Sox remembered Triple-A Charlotte outfielder Danny Mendick.
Separately, gardener Eloy Jiménez began rehabilitation work with Charlotte in Durham, North Carolina on Saturday. Jimenez suffered an injury on April 23 that required surgery to repair a broken hamstring tendon behind his right knee.
“I certainly wouldn’t expect her to come back next week,” Hahn said. “Let’s see how the week goes with Charlotte, and we’ll evaluate it again. I wouldn’t like to see him on this (upcoming) road trip (to Toronto and Tampa Bay).