Houston Astros place Dallas Keuchel on 10-day DL with pinched nerve
By Tim Haberin
The Houston Astros put Dallas Keuchel on the DL with a pinched nerve in his neck, but baseball’s hottest team is not expected to be without its ace for long.
Houston Astros ace Dallas Keuchel is the latest star player to hit the disabled list. The club has placed the left-hander on the 10-day DL with a pinched nerve in his neck, retroactive to last Wednesday. It’s the first DL trip of his six-year MLB career.
The Astros have placed LHP Dallas Keuchel on the 10-day DL (pinched nerve in neck), retroactive to May 17.
— Houston Astros (@astros) May 20, 2017
Fellow southpaw Ashur Tolliver has been recalled from Triple-A Fresno in a corresponding move. The 29-year-old made five relief appearances last season for the Baltimore Orioles, tossing 4.2 innings and allowing three earned runs. He sports a 2.70 ERA over 13.1 frames at Triple-A this year.
Brad Peacock will start for Houston on Monday, per Brian McTaggart of MLB.com. The righty has allowed just two runs in 16.1 innings of relief so far in 2017.
On the plus side, the 29-year-old Keuchel is only expected to miss one start according to McTaggart, so the injury presumably isn’t too severe. Nevertheless, you hate to lose a player of Keuchel’s caliber for any stretch of time.
The Astros, owners of a 29-13 record, are currently MLB’s best team by a 2.5-game margin (over, yes, the Colorado Rockies). Keuchel’s return to dominant form has played a chief role in Houston’s scorching start to the 2017 season.
Through nine starts, the former Cy Young Award winner has been masterful, posting a major league-best 1.84 ERA, 0.86 WHIP and 3.86 K/BB ratio over 63.2 innings. Keuchel has been everything you expect a number-one starter to be. His seven wins are also tops among both leagues, and he’s giving the ‘Stros consistent length by averaging over seven innings per start. All but one of his outings (5/5 @ LAA) have been quality starts.
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Keuchel’s bounce-back performance has been great news to the Astros after the disappointing campaign he turned in last year. He managed an elevated 4.55 ERA and 1.29 WHIP in 168 frames. It was a jarring display after his Cy Young-winning season in 2015, when he won 20 games to the tune of a 2.48 ERA, 1.02 WHIP and 4.24 K/BB over a league-high 232 innings.
Keuchel later claimed that he dealt with shoulder pain throughout the season, per MLB.com. The Astros will likely feel somewhat relieved that the ailment sending him to the DL is not a recurrence of that same injury.
If Keuchel’s 2016 struggles were indeed primarily due to a health issue and the bearded one is now back to his winning ways, Houston has to feel good about maintaining its high level of play. Keuchel’s .215 BABIP suggests he could be in store for some regression, but his 3.27 FIP and other factors indicate he’s still pitching very well.
The new 10-day DL has led many teams to act a bit more cautiously even with seemingly minor injuries, choosing to sideline banged-up players for the shortened stint rather than labor over the issue and potentially waste a roster spot. The Astros appear to be showing such caution here, anticipating their ace to be back on the mound shortly.
Next: Astros looking for pitching upgrades
Winners of eight of their last 10, the Astros continue their weekend series with the Cleveland Indians this afternoon in Houston. The Tribe won last night’s contest 5-3.