Keuchel lands on his feet in Atlanta
Lefty, who says it was hard to leave Houston, is having a ‘pretty seamless’ stint with Braves
ATLANTA — There’s no Keuchel’s Korner to be found at SunTrust Park, and you won’t find Tshirts bearing his name in the Braves’ team store just yet. But former Astros ace Dallas Keuchel has made himself at home in Atlanta — although for how long is another question with a second trip to free agency looming in the offseason.
He’s given his new team what he provided the Astros: a quality arm at the top of the rotation for the National League East leaders while being a mentor to their less-experienced pitchers.
“It’s been really good,” Keuchel said during a recent Braves homestand. “The clubhouse is very similar to what I’m used to. It’s a great group of guys who know how to win and show a willingness to hone their craft every day. It’s pretty seamless.”
But it’s the departure from the last clubhouse he was in that remains intriguing. After 10 seasons in the Astros organization, Keuchel — who worked his way from a seventh-round draft pick out of Arkansas under former general manager Ed Wade’s regime to the 2015 American League Cy Young Award winner — had to find a new home.
He said last week it was evident early last offseason that he’d be moving on.
“This is a business and I knew as soon as the first offer came over in the offseason and it was lower than the qualifying offer ($17.9 million) — and I hadn’t thrown a pitch to deserve a decrease in salary — that I wasn’t going to come back,” Keuchel said.
“It was hard (to leave because) the fans were great. But it’s not that hard when you’re not being valued at what you really are.”
That set Keuchel on a closely scrutinized and puzzling foray into free agency with high-profile agent Scott Boras, whom he hired after the 2017 season. Despite being arguably the top starting pitcher on the market, Keuchel went unsigned during the offseason and spring training, He joined the Braves in early June, signing a one-year contract for a little more than $21 million (prorated to $13 million.)
That experience left him largely critical of MLB’s collective bargaining agreement, which doesn’t expire until 2021 and has seen teams opt to hoard draft picks and take the rebuilding route instead of shelling out big-money contracts to free agents as in past offseasons.
“The CBA is really messed up and it’s mainly our fault,” Keuchel said. “We need to right this ship and get it back to where it should be at 50 percent. If teams want to continue to value this ridiculous compensation pick like it’s a Hall of Fame pick, we’re going to have to figure out something to counter this.”
Braves catcher Brian McCann, a teammate of Keuchel’s in Houston the past two seasons, dubbed the latter’s free-agent experience as “crazy.”
“What he’s done throughout his career speaks for himself: Cy Young Award winner, Gold Glove every year,” McCann said. “When you get to know him, you want him on your side.
“Honestly, it feels like he’s been here for a long time. He fit in from day one and it’s like he’s been here all year.”
So far, the Braves have enjoyed having Keuchel around. While he’s 3-5 with a 4.39 ERA in 11 starts, he’s given Atlanta six quality starts in his past nine outings. His ERA ballooned by nearly a run after giving up eight earned runs in just 32⁄3 innings Aug. 8 at Miami. But in his most recent start Wednesday, Keuchel rebounded with six shutout innings against the Mets but took a no-decision after the bullpen lost a lead in a game the Braves rallied to win.
“He gives us a chance to win every time he goes out,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “It’s exactly what we kind of thought we were going to get. He’s been through it, been a very successful starter and very consistent.
“He brings instant credibility. You look, he’s always talking with one of the young guys. They’re all tapping into the fact this guy’s won a Cy Young (and) he’s a world champion. He’s won all the awards, he does all the little things to become a winning pitcher. They’re all seeing that and he’s very open and willing to share his knowledge and experiences with those young guys.”
Third baseman Josh Donaldson, the former MVP who faced Keuchel as a divisional rival and in the postseason, said he learned something new about the lefthander once they became teammates.
“I didn’t know how competitive he was,” Donaldson said. “He and I were talking the other day and there’s not too many people out there that I can say that I feel want to win at everything as much as I do. And he’s up there, for sure.
“It felt like with his personality, especially myself, I feel like him and I have bonded pretty quickly. I felt like with everybody you ask in here, he’s meshed really with everyone and he’s done exactly what we’ve expected him to go out there and do. We were excited to have him.”
And while teams around the majors lust for pitchers with velocity, Keuchel continues to be a crafty alternative. Against Cincinnati, he needed just 72 pitches to get through the first six innings.
“I appreciate how he goes about his business and how he competes on the mound, how quickly he works on the mound,” Donaldson said. “Just in a day and time when everybody is trying to strike everybody out all the time, he pitches. He’s not scared of contact and he uses us on the defensive end, which is always nice to have.
“I feel like him being a guy going out there and showing guys that pitching to contact is OK, you don’t have to be afraid of giving up the homer. You can go out there and pitch and make your pitches and use your defense. I think it’s carried over to some of the guys on our starting staff.”
Keuchel, who memorably took issue with the Astros’ lack of moves before the non-waiver trade deadline in 2017 (they rectified things by acquiring Justin Verlander a month later), praised general manager Alex Anthopoulos’ trades to bolster the bullpen with veterans Shane Greene, Mark Melancon and Chris Martin.
And like most around baseball, he noticed the Astros beefing up at the trade deadline, most notably their blockbuster trade to land former Cy Young winner Zack Greinke from Arizona, ostensibly their replacement for Keuchel in the rotation.
“Good for the guys,” Keuchel said. “I was happy for Gerrit (Cole), for Justin, for ( Jose) Altuve, a lot of those guys ... (Carlos) Correa, (Alex) Bregman, those are a lot of the guys I really value and like still. Hopefully we see them in October.”
A version of this story originally appeared on txsportsnation.com, the Chronicle’s all-sports website. Sign up for the newsletter at houstonchronicle.com/newsletters greg.rajan@chron.com twitter.com/gregrajan