Dallas Keuchel made his long-awaited White Sox debut on Monday, and he looked very much like Dallas Keuchel. If he impressed, it wasn't with his high-80s arsenal, or the assortment of ground balls he produced after a little trouble up early.
He did impress by going four innings on just 50 pitches in his first spring training game since 2018. Such a lengthy debut is unusual, and so is the brand of success for that matter, but the whole idea of Keuchel is fluke-looking performances delivered with regularity, so he may as well get started now.
His line -- 4 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 K -- worked because the defense found a way to erase runners. José Abreu and Tim Anderson turned a 3-6-3 double play that might not have held up if replay existed in the spring, Anderson made a nifty little play to his right, and Daniel Palka flashed his self-professed McDonald's All-American court vision by making a no-look pass behind a runner.
Keuchel's postgame comments suggested that it might need a few starts for his batted-ball profile and infield positioning to get on the same page ...
“The infield defense was great,” Keuchel said. “It’s still spring training for some of the defensive alignments, coaching-wise and analytical people, so I’m sure we’ll have a sit-down talk with a couple of guys. But I was happy to see the ball on the ground.”
... but it seems like he's trying to speed up the get-to-know-you process however he can. Bob Nightengale wrote about the $25,000 dinner Keuchel staged at a steakhouse for a party of 125 players, coaches, front office members, clubbies, trainers, and their partners.
Undoubtedly, they’ll never forget the evening, particularly with the toast given by Keuchel’s mother, Teresa. She welcomed everyone, brought up the White Sox’s lofty expectations, raised her glass, and then brought the house down:
“Playoffs or die, (expletive)!’’
So one Cactus League start into his multi-year commitment, you won't hear anybody complaining. Reynaldo López and Lucas Giolito will follow suit with their Cactus League debuts this week, so we'll just how the example Keuchel sets matters, won't we.
* * * * * * * * *
With three-fifths of the rotation on less-than-aggressive ramp-up programs and Giolito and Gio González still working their way back from their upper body injuries, the opening week of Cactus League play was open to fringe pitching staff candidates interested in making a case.
The first week of spring training games is usually forgotten by the last week of spring training games, but surprises like Evan Marshall and Zach Putnam usually have to get an early start in order to continue to earn looks as bigger names take up more of the innings.
With that in mind, two pitchers used the early games to make inroads toward crashing the party from off the roster:
Codi Heuer: Probably the most visually impressive pitcher of the first week, racking up five strikeouts against just two baserunners (homer, walk) over three innings. I don't know if he counts as a surprise since he was probably a top-three relief prospect, but the 98-99 fastball-sinker-slider combo looks legit.
Adalberto Mejia: He hasn't been scored upon over 4⅓ innings, and for good reason -- he's allowed just two hits and a walk while striking out five, with visuals to match. There are a lot of games left, but given that he's a lefty with 62 MLB appearances to his credit and a history as a starter until last season, he has a couple avenues to the 26-man roster. The Sox could use potential sixth starters, and also maybe a bullpen lefty who isn't Aaron Bummer. Jace Fry has been slowed by lower back discomfort, and Caleb Frare has allowed three hits and four walks over 1⅓ innings.
