It’s time for Philadelphia Phillies to make a push for Dallas Keuchel
By Dan Parzych
With Dallas Keuchel still available, the Philadelphia Phillies need to make a push to sign the pitcher before Opening Day arrives in a few weeks.
While the main topic of discussion surrounding the Philadelphia Phillies continues to be Bryce Harper being part of the squad, Gabe Kapler‘s team may want to give one final look at starting pitcher Dallas Keuchel before it’s too late.
For months, the City of Brotherly Love has been considered a potential landing spot for the Houston Astros pitcher, mainly because Keuchel seemed like he would be a great fit in a rotation that already consisted of Aaron Nola and Jake Arrieta.
So with this in mind, why haven’t the Phillies made a stronger push for Keuchel? Well for starters, Philadelphia seemed to make it clear early on their main focus was on Harper since the team was unsure what kind of bidding war they may get into with other teams, meaning they didn’t want to jump the gun on throwing all this money towards Keuchel.
However, now that Harper is officially locked in for most likely the rest of his career, Philadelphia has no excuse when it comes to pursuing Keuchel before it’s too late since if they don’t snag him up soon, some other team will.
Some Phillies fans will immediately point out that Keuchel should be avoided after finishing the 2018 season with a 12-11 record, just take a look at what he was able to accomplish the year before, and it’s clear there is still plenty of gas left in that old tank.
That year, Keuchel played a major role in helping the Astros win the World Series after finishing with a 14-5 record while making a case for being in the category of a top pitcher in the league.
What would make the Phillies an even more attractive option for Keuchel is on top of joining an early favorite to make a run at a World Series title, he wouldn’t have to worry about the pressure of being the top pitcher in the rotation since Nola already has those honors.
It’s only a matter of time before Keuchel finally does join a new team for the 2019 season, and after looking at all of the key players that have already come on board over the last few months, Philadelphia would love nothing more than to see the Astros pitcher added to that list.