Dallas Keuchel refers to his routine leading up to his June 7 signing with the Atlanta Braves as his "own little regular season."
Keuchel, a former University of Arkansas pitcher who won an American League Cy Young Award and a World Series title with the Houston Astros, threw simulated games every five days in California to allow for a quick transition once he signed with a team.
He made only two starts in the minor leagues before joining the Braves, and the past two months have featured solid results despite sporting a 3-5 record with a 4.39 ERA through 11 starts.
Wednesday's game against the New York Mets served as a dichotomy of Keuchel's time with the Braves. He allowed five hits and struck out seven, but he didn't factor in the 6-4 victory after the bullpen gave up a one-run lead before the offense rallied for five runs in the seventh inning.
"Outside of [my] last start, I feel I'm as good as I've ever been," Keuchel told Matt Ehalt of Yahoo Sports. "Couple starts where I left runners on and they scored. Name of the game is don't leave any runners on. You should be all right. That happens sometimes."
Braves Manager Brian Snitker described Keuchel's first two months as "solid."
"He's been fine. He's healthy and making his starts," Snitker said. "[Regarding] how important spring training is, it's an individualized thing also. Not set in stone for everybody."
Not a doubt
Like several other Boston Red Sox players, it's been a frustrating season for former Razorback Andrew Benintendi.
Manager Alex Cora acknowledged it last month in Baltimore, saying the left fielder's struggles were wearing on him as he came out with a poor start to the second half of the season.
A month later, Benintendi is going through one of his best offensive stretches in his career.
Benintendi was the offensive catalyst in Friday's 9-1 victory over the Orioles. He went 3 for 4 with 2 extra-base hits as the Red Sox won their third consecutive game. It continued a torrid stretch in which Benintendi has batted .394 with 21 RBI and 19 extra-base hits in 24 games since July 22.
"It's always nice to contribute, and obviously those guys at the top of the lineup, it seems like they're always on base," Benintendi said to Steve Hewitt of the Boston Herald. "It puts pressure on the pitcher, so that little pressure might make the pitcher have one little mistake and that's all it really takes."
Despite his struggles this season, Benintendi said he's never lost confidence.
"I never felt like I doubted anything, so I'm just going out there and playing and things just seem to be going better than they did in the first half," Benintendi said.
Mutual interest
The Texas Rangers have made it known they want to get good looks at young players over the final two months of the season, but they're not ready to push aside utility infielder and former Razorback Logan Forsythe.
Forsythe is a free agent after the season, but Texas still views him as a valuable member of the team, and that relationship could extend into 2020. There is mutual interest on both sides in making that happen.
"Yes, it has crossed my mind," Forsythe told T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com. "It's something even my wife and I have talked about as being a place to come back to.
"I've enjoyed the season. I've enjoyed the cultural shift in the clubhouse, winning baseball games and the mindset a lot of these young guys have adopted. They are trying to learn about all aspects of the game, and the more guys listen, learn and talk about the game, it's fun to be a part of it."
Forsythe was a late addition to the Rangers' spring training roster, made the team as a utility infielder and has stuck with the club all season. His clubhouse leadership has been huge around the Rangers' younger players.
"He is one of our most prepared guys," Rangers Manager Chris Woodward said. "He is probably our biggest influence on how to prepare for the younger guys. He deserves to play. He and Hunter [Pence] and [Shin-Soo] Choo are invaluable at getting the younger guys to prepare, championship-quality prepare, not just prepare. It's invaluable for our team.
"I feel I owe it to him to play. I want to get him as many at-bats as I can. I know he's not going to play ever day, but I want to get him in there as much as I can because of what he has done for our ballclub."
The Rangers aren't ready to start putting together next year's team, but having a veteran utility player who knows how to handle the role appeals to the team more than forcing the role on a young player as they have done in the past.
"Obviously, he is going to gain some interest from other teams," Woodward said. "It's just a matter of where he would fit on ours or if somebody else is going to give him the opportunity to play every day. I would love to have him. He's a championship piece."
Sports on 08/18/2019