Houston Astros: Dallas Keuchel hasn’t escaped his haphazard ways
By Kyle Cardoza
Houston Astros pitcher Dallas Keuchel has had essentially two different careers. In some seasons, he’s been an elite hurler. In others, he’s looked even worse than mediocre. And after enjoying a rebound campaign in 2017, he reverted back to inconsistency during this year’s first half.
Dallas Keuchel walked off the mound at Minute Maid Park, the Houston Astros in a 7-0 deficit.
He didn’t look disheveled, though he labored through a tiresome six-inning start. If he was irked, he didn’t show it. He didn’t obliterate a Gatorade bin with a bat nor engage in a minute-long tirade in the dugout.
But the Houston pitcher was tired – vexed by his performance.
“It’s very frustrating because I feel like I had some good stuff today, and it showed early,” Keuchel told CBS Houston reporter Chris Abshire after the outing. “If I show up on a few pitches here and there, it’s a totally different ballgame. It just seems like that’s the way it’s going right now.”
Postgame interviews and pre-game discussions seemed like repeats. By the end of the year, the ace sounded like a broken record, voicing his frustration over poor outings – one after another.
The May 22 start in 2016 exemplified Keuchel’s campaign that year. The then-reigning Cy Young winner looked like a below-average pitcher, one not worthy of any hardware.
Fans were despondent, shocked. Few expected him to rebound. His prior year seemed resplendent – a faux.
Keuchel’s career has been a teeter-totter of unanticipated success and disappointment. Like the San Francisco Giants, it seems that the productivity of his season hinges on an aspect as irrelevant as whether the year is even or odd.
After posting immaculate numbers in 2015, he sported an inflated 4.55 ERA in 2016. Yet, a year later, it seemed that those inconsistent and ineffective starts were over.
The Houston pitcher regained his flash in 2017. His pinpoint accuracy and effective repertoire of pitches returned. Keuchel’s resurgence lasted throughout the entire season.
But the first three months of this year are evidence that he hasn’t left his mediocre days behind. Of course, this isn’t he first time he’s encountered a significant obstacle.
And Keuchel knows what it takes to regain his form and reestablish himself as one of Houston’s best starting pitchers.