The Brewers have designated veteran left-hander Dallas Keuchel for assignment, according to MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy. Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel went on to relay that right-hander Joel Kuhnel has had his contract selected and will take Keuchel’s place on the 40-man and active rosters.
Keuchel, 36, was acquired by Milwaukee in a trade with the Mariners late last month while the veteran southpaw was on a minor league deal with Seattle. He was added to the Brewers’ roster shortly thereafter and ended up making four starts for the club. He posted a 5.40 ERA with just 11 strikeouts against eight walks in his 16 2/3 innings of work for the club, and yesterday surrendered three runs on eight hits in just three innings of work in a start against the Nationals. The Brewers will now have seven days to either work out a trade involving Keuchel or attempt to pass him through waivers. The 13-year MLB veteran has more than enough service time to reject an outright assignment and return to free agency after clearing waivers, if he so chooses.
While the veteran struggled during his time in Milwaukee, it’s certainly possible that his time in the Mariners’ system could get him another look at the big league level with a pitching-hungry club. After all, the lefty posted a solid 3.93 ERA in 13 starts that becomes even more impressive when you consider the fact that he was pitching in the inflated offensive environment of Triple-A’s Pacific Coast League. While he struck out just 15.6% of opponents in those games, his ability to generate grounders was as impressive as ever as he posted a 59.5% groundball rate. With clubs around the game in the hunt for starting pitching prior to the deadline and few clear sellers, it’s at least feasible that a team in need of pitching could give Keuchel a look after the impending All Star break in hopes he could provide depth in the event they’re unable to land a more impactful arm.
As for Kuhnel, the 29-year-old first made his big league debut 2019 and has pitched in parts of five MLB seasons at this point, though his only extended opportunity came with Cincinnati back in 2022. The results left much to be desired, as Kuhnel posting a 6.36 ERA in 58 innings of work that was 31% worse than league average by ERA+. Despite that, underlying metrics actually thought the righty pitched fairly well that year as his FIP, xFIP, xERA, and SIERA were all better than average thanks to his solid 22% strikeout rate, an excellent 5.5% walk rate, and an above-average 52.2% groundball rate.
Those solid peripheral numbers haven’t enough to get him consistent work in the years since then, however, as he’s pitched just 15 innings in the big leagues since the start of the 2023 season. Those limited opportunities generally haven’t gone well, as Kuhnel has posted a ghastly 7.20 ERA and a 5.84 FIP in that limited big league playing time. Even so, both the Blue Jays and Brewers have added Kuhnel to their 40-man roster this year after he was designated for assignment by the Astros early in the season. He’s yet to appear in the big leagues with either of those clubs, although now he’ll get the opportunity to do with with Milwaukee after having his contract selected by the Brewers for the second time this year. The righty’s numbers at the Triple-A level have been excellent this year, as he’s posted a 2.30 ERA in 27 1/3 innings of work despite a lackluster 15% strikeout rate.