Astros: Dallas Keuchel wins 3rd Gold Glove Award
The Astros ace pitcher wins his third consecutive Gold Glove award after another year of aggressive defense and consistency.
Keuchel continues his dominance as the best defensive pitcher in the American League, winning his third Gold Glove Award in as many years. The 28 year old lefty managed to avoid committing a single error and put together a perfect fielding percentage of 1.000%. Despite an off year on the mound, he continues to be a rock for the Astros.
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Dallas Keuchel struggled pitching wise in 2016. He posted an ERA of 4.55 and threw significantly less innings compared to his past two seasons. Despite those struggles, defensively, Keuchel remained consistent. His fielding percentage improved and was able to avoid making an error.
Now being a veteran on the team’s pitching staff, Keuchel can make a different kind of impact for the team. The Astros have several young pitchers on the staff. Two of the potential starters for 2017 were rookies this past season. Both Joe Musgrove and Chris Devenski can learn a thing or two from Keuchel about consistency defensively.
Keuchel is a big part of this Astros ball club and hopefully can return to the dominant lefty we have seen in the past.
One part of his game we can always count on remaining strong is his defense. Due to him having one of the higher ground ball rates in baseball, a career GBIP (Ground Balls In Play) of 43%, his defense is a big part of his game. It also helps to have several other Gold Glove caliber defenders behind him in George Springer, Carlos Correa, and Jose Altuve to name a few.
After winning his third consecutive Gold Glove Award, I am sure Keuchel is eager to add a different trophy to his collection. The ace lefty can hopefully rebound in 2017 to his Cy Young form and lead Houston back to the postseason.
***Statistics courtesy of Baseball-Reference***
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