Keuchel started the 2024 Japanese professional baseball Softbank Hawks’ away showdown at the PayPay Dome in Fukuoka, Fukuoka, Japan on the 17th (Korea time), and recorded 73 pitches, three hits, three strikeouts, two walks and two runs (two earned runs) in five innings.
Keuchel made his debut in 2009 with the Houston Astros as the 221st overall pick in the 9th round of the Major League Rookie Draft, and he has played in 282 games (267 starts) in 13 major league seasons, including the Milwaukee Brewers uniform after the Atlanta Braves, Arizona Diamondbacks, Texas Rangers and Minnesota Twins this year, with a 103-92 record and a 4.04 ERA.
Keuchel did not stand out in the early days of his debut, but he was reborn as Houston’s “Ace” at once, with 12 wins, 9 losses and an ERA of 2.93, including five complete throws in 29 games in 2014, his third year. He then took the mound in 33 games the following year and recorded the most wins in the American League, the most innings and the most shutouts (2 wins) with 20 wins, 8 losses and an ERA of 2.48.
Although he left a brilliant history of winning the World Series (2017), winning the Gold Glove 5 times (2014-2016, 2018, 2021), and 2nd All-Star (2015 and 2017), his position in the big leagues has been noticeably narrowed recently, with no 10 wins since the 2018 season (12 wins), and he joined hands with the Chiba Lotte Marines of the Japanese professional baseball league on the 30th of last month after leaving a disappointing performance with a 5.40 ERA in four games in Milwaukee this year.
It is clear why Chiba Lotte recruited Keuchel. It is difficult to win the Pacific League during the regular season, but they will try to win the Japanese Series with “perfect monster” Rocky Sasaki and Keuchel, who are hoping to advance to the Major League. Keuchel, who signed a contract with Chiba Lotte, visited Japan on the 10th and held a press conference to join the team on the 11th. At the time, Keuchel said, “I didn’t get used to the time difference, but it was a good day to get to know the players while sweating. There will be something you can look forward to. Based on this, I will prepare well and pitch well.”
At a press conference to join the team, coach Yoshii Masato said that Keuchel would take the mound immediately this week. He will make his debut against Softbank, the No. 1 team in the Pacific League, on Saturday. Keuchel’s most recent appearance in the game was against the Washington Nationals on April 14 due to a long hiatus. Keuchel started the inning by catching leadoff hitter Naoki Sato on a groundout to the second base in the bottom of the first inning, but his follow-up hitter Kenta Imamiya hit a double to left field, putting him on the verge of losing a point.
With runners on second base and one out, Keuchel hit a timely hit by hitting the second pitch by Tatsuru Yanagimachi, who was followed by the latter, and allowed a two-seam fastball and an RBI double by Hotaga Yamakawa. Still, there were no additional runs lost. With runners on second base and one out, Keuchel cooked Kondo Kensuke with a groundout to the second base and tied Kai Takuya with a groundout to the shortstop, ending the inning without allowing any additional runs. With the support of his batters, he began to stabilize himself in the second inning when the score was 2-2.
Keuchel struck out Kawase Hikaru for the first time and recorded a three-out inning with his first strikeout after Taisei Makihara hit a fly ball to center field and Soichiro Ishizuka grounded out to shortstop. He then allowed Yanagimachi to walk after turning both Sato and Imamiya into a misfire in the third inning, but froze Yamakawa, the “fourth batter” who followed.
Keuchel, whose catcher had so many balls early in the game that he could hardly block, pitched more stably throughout the innings, and escaped the crisis with two outs and third base by allowing a walk to the leadoff batter in the fifth inning after displaying three outs once again with two ground balls and one strikeout in the fourth inning. As it was his first pitch in Japan, Keuchel ended the game with five innings without too much effort, putting his team beyond its debut victory. However, he laid the groundwork for Chiba Lotte to overcome consecutive losses.
According to Japan’s “West Japan Sports,” Softbank coach Hiroki Kokubo said after the game, “Batters handled the game well in the first inning. As expected, however, he revised the game from the second inning. I told him to aim for a high pitch, but he didn’t raise it. He threw the ball low enough,” adding, “It would be different from when I received the Cy Young Award, but I felt like I was throwing low from the middle of the game.”토토사이트
“I was a little nervous in the first inning because it was my first game in Japan,” Keuchel said after the game. “I should have thrown low because Softbank’s batters were good, but in the first inning, I gave up two runs on a high pitch. However, after the second inning, I was able to control the ball low and show my strengths,” Keuchel said after the game. “The fans’ tremendous cheering was amazing. That was my energy. I hope I can throw longer innings next time to give strength to my victory.”