Former Major League Baseball Cy Young Award-winning left-handed pitcher Dallas Keuchel, 36, made a successful debut in Nippon Professional Baseball. After being released five times in the last three years, the former Major League Baseball player has taken the first step toward a resurgence in Japan.
The Chiba Lotte Marines right-hander pitched five innings of one-hit ball, allowing two runs on three hits with two walks and three strikeouts against the SoftBank Hawks of the Nippon Professional Baseball 2024 at the Mizuho PayPay Dome in Fukuoka, Japan, on Sunday.
It was a successful debut for the right-hander, who pitched well against a “powerhouse” team that leads the Pacific League with a 69-35 record (.663 winning percentage). With the score tied 2-2, the game was not decided, and Chiba Lotte won 5-2.
After giving up a leadoff double to Genta Imamiya in the top of the first inning, Keikle gave up a leadoff single to Tatsuru Yanagimachi in left field. Hotaka Yamakawa followed with an RBI double to the right side of the infield.
In the bottom of the first, three consecutive singles scored two runs.
But Keikle, who got Kensuke Kondo and Takuya Kai to fly out to second and shortstop to end the first inning, respectively, got out of the second with a triple play. Two batters later, he struck out Hikaru Kawase on a three-pitch swinging strike on an outside slider for his first strikeout in Japan.
In the third, he gave up a walk to Yanagimachi two batters later, but struck out Yamakawa on a high throw to his body for the second out. The fourth, he struck out Taisei Makihara on a swinging strike with a changeup to end the inning. In the fifth, he walked Soichiro Ishizuka, 메이저사이트 then got Naoki Sato to ground out to second base on a sacrifice bunt, and got Imamiya to fly out to center field to end the inning without allowing another run.
After giving up two runs on three consecutive hits in the first inning, he walked two and didn’t allow a hit. He finished with 73 pitches in five innings for his first start. He didn’t have a fastball that topped out at 141 kilometers per hour, but he used his cutter, two-seam fastball, changeup, slider, and other pitches to keep the SoftBank bats in check.
After the game,
Keikle said, “I was a little nervous in the first inning because it was my debut in Japan. Softbank’s bats were in good shape, so I should have thrown low, but I went high and gave up two runs. After the second inning, I was able to control the ball down low and save my pitches.” ”I was surprised by the support from the Marlins fans, and it gave me energy. Next time, I hope to pitch longer innings and contribute to the win.”
In 13 seasons with seven teams, including the Milwaukee Brewers this year after making his major league debut with the Houston Astros in 2012, Keichle is 103-92 with a 4.04 ERA and 1,254 strikeouts in 282 games (267 starts-1,642⅓ innings). In 2015, he had a career-high season with a 20-8 record, 2.48 ERA, and 216 strikeouts in 33 games (232 innings), winning the American League (AL) Cy Young Award and helping Houston win the franchise’s first World Series title in 2017.
He doesn’t have a fiery fastball, but he has a solid command of his offspeed pitches, including a cutter, sinker, and a changeup that pokes all corners of the strike zone. When Hyun-jin Ryu was with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2017, pitching coach Rick Honeycutt showed him a video of Kikle throwing his cutter, which he used as a reference. With an extra weapon against right-handed hitters, Ryu had a second career peak.
However, a shoulder injury in 2016 derailed his career, and he signed two free agent contracts without success.
By 2022, he was a journeyman. He was released by the Chicago White Sox in May after going 2-5 with a 7.88 ERA in eight games in 2022, then moved to the Arizona Diamondbacks, only to be released again after four games (9.64 ERA) and reassigned to the Texas Rangers. He was also released by Texas after two games with a dismal 12.60 ERA.
In 2023, he signed a minor league deal with the Minnesota Twins during the June season to move up to the big leagues, but was not re-signed after the season after going 2-1 with a 5.97 ERA in 10 games. In April of this year, he signed a minor league contract with the Seattle Mariners, but was released without a big league call-up. He then re-signed with Seattle before being traded to Milwaukee for $1 in a cash deal. He was given a big league opportunity in Milwaukee, but was released after four starts with a 5.40 ERA.
After being released five times in the last three years, bouncing between six different teams, it was clear that Keikle was no longer competitive in the majors. He moved to Japan to continue his career. It will be interesting to see if he can resurrect his career in Japan after a solid start.