Boys of summer getting in sync in winter
Keuchel’s return to health bolsters ‘underrated’ staff
Astros pitchers and catchers have all the right moves as they stretch before the first official workout at the team’s new spring training site in West Palm Beach, Fla. The rest of the squad reports on Friday.
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Thirty-six lefthanded pitchers were selected ahead of Dallas Keuchel in the 2009 amateur draft, a fact the uber-competitive 29-year-old is well aware of. He defied his fringe prospect status to reach the major leagues in 2012 and over the next three years turned himself into a Cy Young Award winner.
This season, it almost feels as if Keuchel has to prove himself all over again. Not only is he coming off an injury, but he amounted to a below-average pitcher when on the mound last season. And after a winter in which general manager Jeff Luhnow didn’t acquire another frontline starter, the Astros are counting on their bearded ace more than ever.
“I’m a guy that takes
some of that and runs with it,” Keuchel said. “We’ll see how it goes. But everything points to normal, so that’s a good feeling.”
On the morning of the Astros’ first spring training workout Wednesday, Keuchel declared himself as feeling “like a brandnew guy.” He’s five bullpen sessions into his program and believes he’ll be able to regain the velocity he lost last season.
When Keuchel sees his first Grapefruit League action likely in early March, it will be his first game since late August. A shoulder injury he detailed Wednesday as “major inflammation” in his rotator cuff cost him the final five weeks of the 2016 campaign. He has said on several occasions the injury affected him all season.
“From the get-go, coming into spring training, it wasn’t right,” he said. “But I was telling myself I could push through this and get through it. That wasn’t the case. I actually hurt the team more than helped them out.
“I learned that it’s OK to tell people if you’re not feeling right. That’s one of the big keys I learned at the age of 28. So hopefully at 29, I’ll be a little more knowledgeable.” A year of battling adversity
Although Keuchel’s diminished velocity exacerbated his struggles, the most prominent difference in his performance was his command. Keuchel is at his best when working along the edges of the strike zone and making hitters chase pitches that look like strikes. But he wasn’t fooling hitters last year.
“I think he just learned how to overcome some adversity,” manager A.J. Hinch said. “From the beginning of the season, I think he battled some inconsistencies, he battled a little bit of fatigue, he battled a little bit of soreness here and there, and so he’s had to make some adjustments.
“He understands now how to navigate through some of that stuff. He took it on the chin a few times, but he also pitched a couple of good games as well. He didn’t have an entirely wasted season. … I think he learned a lot about himself.”
Keuchel, whose 4.45 ERA was more than two runs per nine innings worse than his Cy Young Award-winning season in 2015, explained how his balky shoulder altered his mechanics.
“It’s funny how the body works,” he said. “When something’s injured, everything else tries to pick up the pieces and make sure everything else is clicking. The arm dragged and then my back was hurting because my shoulder was taking the brunt of it. It was trying to take some pressure off of it.
“Just some little things that kind of added up through the course of August, which made things difficult for me on a routine basis. I was fighting a lot of things now, but we’re good to go now and we’ll proceed forward.” Taking it slow and deliberate
In his bullpen sessions so far, Keuchel has thrown exclusively four-seam fastballs, two-seam fastballs and change-ups. He will begin working in his slider soon. The upcoming World Baseball Classic makes for a longer spring training, so there is more time for pitchers to build up.
Keuchel probably will be one of the last Astros starters to pitch in spring training games as the team exercises caution with him and Lance McCullers. The performances of the top two starters, who trained together this offseason and are living together in a rented house this spring, will go a long way in dictating the Astros’ results this year.
“I think our pitching staff’s going to be a little underrated,” Keuchel said. “I think we’ve gotten a little flack for not making a move. But at the same time, I think we’ve got some really professional guys who know how to get the job done.”