Keuchel Signs with the Braves: Will It Be Enough to Edge the Phillies in the NL East?

Jason Getz, USA Today Sports

The Braves took a massive step forward Thursday night when they agreed to sign lefty pitcher Dallas Keuchel to a one-year contract worth $13 million.

Atlanta currently sits in 2nd place for the NL East with a 33-29 record. This is in part to the successful play of Dansby Swanson, Ronald Acuna Jr., and Freddie Freeman. The Braves fielding and batting has been consistent and strong. However, their pitching core is young and needs time to grow and develop.

For the Braves, their bright spot has been Mike Soroka, a 21-year old pitcher who owns the lowest earned run average on the squad (1.41). His success as a starter shows how great the future could be for the Braves squad. It is unfortunate that their other young pitchers are not on the same track with Foltynewicz and Gausman allowing too many runs to opponents. The starting unit needed an upgrade to give Atlanta an extra push forward.

Signing Keuchel was a good decision since he has playoff experience and has good mechanics, making him a great option to become a mentor for these young pitchers. Although he will begin in Triple-A, it is safe to say he will be with the team after the All-Star break.

If there were a time for the Braves to make improvements, it would be now since they are two games behind Philadelphia for the lead in the division. Surprisingly, as I looked over the statistics, I noticed that the Phillies and Braves are similar in their weakness in pitching outside of a couple players. Their batting is very good with a solid contact hitter in Jean Segura and strong power hitters in Bryce Harper, Rhys Hoskins, and J.T. Realmuto.

With the addition of Keuchel, the Braves are in prime position to take the next step, as long as the pitcher stays healthy and he can rediscover the skill that made him the Cy Young Winner in 2015. Last season, Keuchel posted a 3.74 ERA and a .263 batting average over 34 starts for the Astros. In my book, that is a mediocre year for a player of Keuchel’s likeness. The Braves need to be solid and continue to win games on strong batting and improved pitching. Otherwise, Harper and Realmuto will guide the Phillies into the playoffs and leave the Braves in the dust.