The Kansas City Royals have brought in some blasts from the past this season, but they haven’t paid major dividends.
The most memorable of these was Rich Hill, who made two starts with Kansas City before getting designated assignments. But two other former All-Star pitchers, including a Cy Young Award winner, spent time in Triple-A Omaha.
Michael Fulmer was released earlier in August, and has since signed with the Seattle Mariners. Late last week, Dallas Keuchel was the next to follow.
On Friday, the Triple-A Omaha Storm Chasers announced that Keuchel, the 2015 American League Cy Young winner with the Houston Astros, was released. It was a corresponding transaction for right-handed pitcher Jacob Wallace to be reinstated from the injured list.
Keuchel wound up making seven starts for the Storm Chasers, and the numbers weren’t at all bad. He pitched 35 2/3 innings to the tune of a 3.53 ERA, striking out 30 batters, walking 12, and allowing 38 hits.
A two-time All-Star and five-time Gold Glove winner, Keuchel last pitched a full major league season with the Chicago White Sox in 2021. From ages 34 to 37, he’s been on a continuous grind to keep his big-league dreams alive.
Keuchel pitched for the White Sox, Arizona Diamondbacks, and Texas Rangers in 2022, totaling a 9.20 ERA. He moved on to the Minnesota Twins in 2023 and the Milwaukee Brewers last year, with an ERA in the fives over brief samples across both seasons.
Unless Keuchel mounts an improbable big-league comeback, it will be the first season since 2011 that the lefty doesn’t pitch in at least one major league game. He’s barely snuck in there the last few years, with 10 appearances in 2023 and four last year.
If this is it for Keuchel, what a run it has been. But he’s also been counted out before and wound up finding his way back to the big leagues anyway, so it’s unwise to count him out until the season ends.
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