For 4th time, Keuchel’s fielding is as good as gold
Healthy again and with free agency looming, Dallas Keuchel regained his spot among baseball’s best defensive pitchers.
The 30-year-old lefthander won his fourth Gold Glove in five years on Sunday, defeating Indians ace Corey Kluber and Yankees righthander Masahiro Tanaka for the American League award.
Keuchel is the first American League pitcher since Kenny Rogers to win four Gold Gloves in a five-year span. He joins second baseman Craig Biggio (1994-97), outfielder Cesar Cedeno (1972-76) and third baseman Doug Rader (1970-74) as the only Astros to win four or more Gold Gloves.
When he collected his first Gold Glove in 2014, Keuchel became the first Astros pitcher to win the award. He’d win it the next two seasons, too, before an injuryshortened 2017 ended his streak.
Healthy throughout this year — perhaps his last for the Astros — Keuchel produced an errorless season for the third time in his seven-year big league career.
Keuchel made a careerhigh 34 starts, handled an AL-high 41 total chances and recorded 27 assists, crucial given the sinkerballer’s contact-crazy reputation. He ended his season with a 3.74 ERA and 3.69 FIP while permitting a major league-high 211 hits.
Keuchel’s 3.23 ERA in his final 20 starts was the fourth-lowest in the AL, sending him into free agency on a strong note.
The Astros extended Keuchel a one-year, $17.9 million qualifying offer on Friday. Keuchel is expected to decline and test a free-agent market devoid of much proven starting pitching. Officially, Keuchel has until Nov. 12 to render his qualifying offer decision.
Astros third baseman Alex Bregman and catcher Martin Maldonado were Gold Glove finalists at their respective positions. Bregman lost to Oakland’s Matt Chapman, and Maldonado ceded the award to Kansas City’s Salvador Perez.