Dallas Keuchel: A Pitching Oddity

[Theodore Tollefson]

Going from the worst start he's had in his professional 2023 season to taking a perfect game into the seventh inning. Dallas Keuchel has continued to live up to the oddity of his MLB career during his short time with the Twins. 

Image courtesy of Jeffrey Becker, USA Today Sports

Dallas Keuchel has made a living being an outlier in Major League Baseball.

He came into Sunday afternoon’s Twins-Pirates game with many people seeing his third start with the Twins as a make-or-break moment for the continuation of his career. That’s because his previous start against the Philadelphia Phillies on August 11 was anything but glamorous. 

The defending National League champions made Keuchel live up to every doubt fans and baseball beat writers alike had when the Twins offered him a minor-league deal in late June. He threw 49 pitches and could only get five outs. Between those five outs, the Phillies tagged on six hits, and two walks, and six of those eight base runners scored. 

Not a single one of those 49 pitches against the Phillies topped 88 miles per hour. And in an age where the heat on pitches banks the success of many pitchers in MLB, people believed Keuchel's start against the Pirates could be his very last. 

But then a few things happened during Sunday’s game people weren’t expecting. Keuchel got his first strikeout of the season with Pirates catcher Endy Rodriguez staring down an 84.9 MPH cutter on the outside corner to end the second inning. 

At that point, Keuchel faced the minimum number of hitters: six up, six down, a strong rebound from his previous two innings before Sunday’s game. But the real excitement of his performance was still to come.  

Chris Langin was at home in Scottsdale, Arizona, on Sunday with time set aside from his job as the Director of Pitching for Driveline. Langin worked with Keuchel from last December until June of this year to help get him opportunities in the majors like he had on Sunday; bringing a perfect game into the seventh inning. 

“It was one of the more enjoyable things I’ve watched in my almost four years here at Driveline,” said Langin. “You look at everything leading up to that moment and it’s encouraging. Especially when you account for the context of how the last game went for him.”

Langin’s time with Keuchel over the six months he was at Driveline makes him more familiar than anybody with what the lefty can do on the mound. He’s kept up with Keuchel on a daily basis over the phone, and they continue to break down how his starts turn out. 

The start against the Phillies had left its mark on both of them from all that progress that had been made for Keuchel leading up to it. The results of that game weighed on Keuchel leading into Sunday’s game according to Langin. 

“You talk about a lot just hitting you at once after all that time. It’s pretty easy to think about those things a bit, feeling like you may have wasted time. Considering how he turned it around Sunday from the last game was pretty cool,” said Langin. 

Breaking down Sunday’s start, Langin said there was a noticeable difference from Keuchel’s previous two starts. He was throwing fewer strikes that attacked hitters in the strike zone to start out at-bats and increasing the number of pitches he wanted to get the Pirates hitters to chase. 

“He sometimes over-relies on his command too earlier in the count. For Dallas, I think, he sometimes doesn’t have to be as assertive as he thinks on the first pitch. It’s a lot more difficult to get two strikes in a count than one these days and that ability to hit a corner is just more important when it’s required to get more with strike two than one with guys' swing rates these days.”

As Keuchel set a new Twins record for the most amount of hitters faced before recording a single strikeout at 42. Langin saw it as another fun thing that adds to the outlier narrative Keuchel has constructed for himself.

“I was sending him funny texts before the game Sunday on the strikeout thing, giving him **** about it.  I basically told him ‘The only thing you can optimize for is striking out one batter.’ That was the game plan.” 

Keuchel achieved that one strikeout, then two more, before his day came to an end after Pirates left fielder Bryan Reynolds hit a double off the right-center field wall. 19 up and 19 down to that point. He walked off the mound with no runs surrendered going into the seventh for the first time since June 15, 2021. 

As the Twins continue their push to clinch the American League Central for the 2023 postseason. Langin isn’t hyper focused as Twins fans are when it comes to the lineups his friend will be facing down the stretch. Or if he’ll hold out to be a part of a six-man rotation once Joe Ryan returns from his rehab assignment. 

He’s proud of what Keuchel has accomplished in his comeback to this point and just wants to enjoy the ride he’ll be on, even if it is Keuchel’s last trip in the majors. 

“I don’t think he’s got anything really think too deeply on. He’s done a lot in this game. He’s made a hell of an effort to continue playing when he doesn’t necessarily have to. He’s such a unique pitcher in how he approaches the game, I think he’s earned the right to say ‘Who really gives a ****’ in terms of who he’s facing.” 

Keuchel’s next start is likely to come on Saturday against the Texas Rangers, the team with the second-highest OPS in the majors at .797. A team all but set for the postseason, whether it’s the AL West title or a Wild Card spot, they’ll prove to be another test to Keuchel’s remaining longevity in the big leagues.

Until then, he can finally give Langin smack talk back about the strikeouts he’s recorded and work on his best approach against an all-star lineup. 

 

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[Jocko87]

There's a reason the Twins and many others struggle against lefties. It's kinda like ice cream, even when it's bad, it's not that bad.

Now that I think about it, maybe there is value of the hitters spending some time with Kuechel?

[Karbo]

Will the real Dallas Keuchel please stand up? I will be interested to see how he does against a much better lineup with Texas.

[D.C Twins]

Not an oddity... superior command has always been a reliable pathway to great pitching results. 

The question is how often he will have that superior command.. because when he doesn't it will get U-G-L-Y and quick 

[old nurse]

If anything should be learned from the Twins all these years is that good command and control will beat weaker teams. The better teams can find a way. The Twins have a history of command pitchers getting them to the playoffs

[mikelink45]

We have had these oddities before: 

Quote

The astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson estimates that the slowest pitch that could reach home plate on the fly would travel around 30 miles per hour.1 Stu Miller didn’t defy the laws of physics, but he challenged the equation that says Velocity = Success.

“He’s got three speeds of pitches – slow, slower and reverse,” the sportswriter Jim Murray said.2 Murray described Miller’s signature changeup as a moth flitting across the plate; others called it a butterfly.

Throwing fog instead of smoke, Miller was the relief ace for two pennant winners during a 16-year major-league career. The right-hander changed speeds on his fastball and curve, and delivered side-arm as well as overhand.

https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/stu-miller/

 

[Peter]

Definitely needs to be on roster rest of season as well 6 man rotation!

[peterukavina]

He was helped - greatly - by diaz expanding the strike zone.  Don't think he would have gotten shelled, but it would've been a different game without all of those outside strikes.

[Brandon]

I hope his success continues.  If he can be a 4.5 ERA pitcher the rest of the way, he is of value as a member of a 6 man rotation helping to keep innings down and arms fresh for the playoffs.

 

[DocBauer]

Still not sure how they will run a 6 man rotation, if that's the direction they go. A straight 6 man? Or do they run a 5 man and skip everyone once a week...assuming they keep their lead.

I agree he was helped out by the ump's zone against Pittsburgh, and he still might have been OK with a tighter zone, but wouldn't have had 6 perfect innings for sure. And that's OK.

Facing the Rangers is a whole different situation. I'd expect something closer to the Phillies game...though maybe not as bad...where we just hope for 4 or 5 OK innings and keep the game close. But even if it goes bad, 2 OK or better and 2 bad, might still get him a 5th start to see. And he's probably earned that.

I give him tremendous credit for him working hard to come back and try to compete and continue...or go out on his own terms...but I don't expect more than a few games to just help mitigate the IP if the other starters. I think it's still very much up in the air if he's on the team foe the rest of the season. No to the playoffs unless it's as a middle/long man.

But good for him.

[Fred]

14 hours ago, Karbo said:

Will the real Dallas Keuchel please stand up? I will be interested to see how he does against a much better lineup with Texas.

Kuechel has always depended on being near, but not in, the strike zone. He had the help of consistently generous calls in the last game. If hitters (and umpires) make him throw into the box, he'll get torched. And I have always been a Kuechel fan.

[Doctor Wu]

11 hours ago, DocBauer said:

Still not sure how they will run a 6 man rotation, if that's the direction they go. A straight 6 man? Or do they run a 5 man and skip everyone once a week...assuming they keep their lead.

I agree he was helped out by the ump's zone against Pittsburgh, and he still might have been OK with a tighter zone, but wouldn't have had 6 perfect innings for sure. And that's OK.

Facing the Rangers is a whole different situation. I'd expect something closer to the Phillies game...though maybe not as bad...where we just hope for 4 or 5 OK innings and keep the game close. But even if it goes bad, 2 OK or better and 2 bad, might still get him a 5th start to see. And he's probably earned that.

I give him tremendous credit for him working hard to come back and try to compete and continue...or go out on his own terms...but I don't expect more than a few games to just help mitigate the IP if the other starters. I think it's still very much up in the air if he's on the team foe the rest of the season. No to the playoffs unless it's as a middle/long man.

But good for him.

Yeah, I'm more than a bit worried how he will fare with that strong Rangers lineup. 

[Doctor Wu]

Interesting article. I enjoy reading about the background and pitching strategies of players like Keuchel. Hopefully, his experience and "veteran savvy" will help us get into, and get through, the playoffs this year. I think he will end up being a useful addition to the team. 

[Platoon]

The only thing Philadelphia and Pittsburg lineup have n common is the letter "P”!