Milwaukee Brewers Designate Former Cy Young Winner Dallas Keuchel For Assignment

Less than three weeks after acquiring him in a trade with the Seattle Mariners, the Milwaukee Brewers bumped longtime Houston Astros ace Dallas Keuchel off their 40-man roster.

Jul 13, 2024; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Milwaukee Brewers starting pitcher Dallas Keuchel (60) pitches against the Washington Nationals in the first inning at American Family Field. / Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports

The Milwaukee Brewers have designated starting pitcher Dallas Keuchel for assignment, MLB.com's Adam McCalvy was first to report Sunday.

Milwaukee traded cash considerations to the Seattle Mariners to acquire Keuchel on June 25. He made his Brewers debut on June 26 and went on to make four starts for the team.

Across those four outings, Keuchel went 0-0 with a 5.40 ERA, 1.860 WHIP, 5.9 strikeouts per nine innings, a 1.38 strikeout-to-walk ratio and a 0.0 WAR. The Brewers recorded wins in each of Keuchel's first three starts, but they lost to the Washington Nationals when he took the mound Saturday.

Now, the 36-year-old southpaw is back on the open market.

Keuchel started the year on a minor league deal with the Mariners, going 7-4 with a 3.93 ERA and 1.211 WHIP with Triple-A Tacoma. Before that, he spent the 2023 season with the Minnesota Twins.

Of course, Keuchel is known best for being the Houston Astros' go-to ace throughout the 2010s.

Keuchel made his major league debut in 2012, then won his first of five Gold Gloves in 2014. He was named an All-Star in 2015 and 2017, winning AL Cy Young in 2015 and helping Houston win the World Series in 2017.

Between 2014 and 2018, Keuchel went 67-45 with a 3.28 ERA, 1.178 WHIP and 17.5 WAR. He was also 4-2 with a 3.31 ERA and 1.142 WHIP in 10 playoff outings in that span.

Keuchel continued to put up solid numbers with the Atlanta Braves in 2019 and the Chicago White Sox in 2020, posting a 3.12 ERA, 1.267 WHIP and 4.4 WAR across 30 starts in those seasons.

Following a lackluster 2021 and an even rougher start to 2022, Keuchel got let go by the White Sox. He then went onto sign minor league deals with the Arizona Diamondbacks, Texas Rangers, Twins and Mariners before the Brewers gave him a shot. Seattle was the only club that didn't give him a shot in the big leagues.

It seemed like Keuchel had found a solid landing spot in Milwaukee, considering the Brewers' rotation had been gutted by injuries. Robert Gasser, Wade Miley and Brandon Woodruff are all out for the season, with DL Hall and Joe Ross joining them on the injured list as well.

Hall and Ross are expected back soon after the All-Star break, though, robbing Keuchel of his spot in the starting rotation.

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinal's Todd Rosiak reported that the Brewers selected right-handed pitcher Joel Kuhnel's contract from Triple-A Nashville to round out their roster without Keuchel.

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