GLENDALE, Ariz. — White Sox left-hander Dallas Keuchel pitched four innings in his Cactus League debut Monday, allowing a run on six hits and getting nine outs on ground balls against the Padres at Camelback Ranch.
The ground balls are something to get used to, and if the Sox make some tweaks with their defensive alignments, perhaps fewer will get through the infield.
Keuchel struck out one and did not walk a batter. He induced eight ground balls and one double play. Shortstop Tim Anderson had four assists behind the 2015 Cy Young Award winner, and most of the contact was of the soft variety except for Almonte’s double and Juan Lageres’ line out to Anderson.
“Well, the infield defense was great,” Keuchel said. “I think it’s still spring training for some of the defensive alignments, coaching wise and analytical people. So I’m sure we’ll have a sit-down talk with a couple of guys. But I was just I was happy to see the ball on the ground.”
The Padres got a quick run when leadoff man Abraham Almonte bounced a ground rule double over the left field wall and scored on Brian Dozier’s single.
Signed to a three-year, $55 million contract as a free agent in the offseason, Keuchel will probably start the Sox’ second game of the season behind probable Opening Day starter Lucas Giolito, although manager Rick Renteria has not revealed how his rotation will line up yet.
<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>Dallas Keuchel after his first spring game: <a href=”https://t.co/PP2fL0gML0”>pic.twitter.com/PP2fL0gML0</a></p>— Daryl Van Schouwen (@CST_soxvan) <a href=”https://twitter.com/CST_soxvan/status/1234592901822181377?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>March 2, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8”></script>
Keuchel threw 50 pitches, 34 for strikes and overall was pleased with how he threw.
“I’ve been saying all spring that I felt ahead of schedule physically and mentally where I’m at,” said Keuchel, who missed spring training as a free agent a year ago. “That’s just a huge sign for me.”
Bummer happy with contract, role
Left-hander Aaron Bummer’s five-year, $16 million contract signed ahead of his arbitration and free agent years not only gave him financial security, it allows him to pitch in whatever role he’s called on without concern of the financial ramifications.
Relievers often desire the closer’s role because that’s where the most money is.
“The beautiful thing about this contract is that it doesn’t necessarily matter,” said Bummer, who pitched a perfect inning with one strikeout against the Padres. “It’s no longer going to be fighting for arbitration numbers to go get those saves because saves are what get you paid in arbitration. I’m going to go out there and get as many outs as possible, whatever the situation, whatever the inning.”
Bummer, who was sixth in holds with 27 and seventh with a 2.13 ERA among AL relievers last season, had one save. While Alex Colome (2.80 ERA) had 30 saves, Bummer was arguably the Sox’ best reliever.
Like Bummer, Brewers reliever Freddy Peralta signed a long-term deal ($15.5 million, five years) last week as teams are increasingly trying to lock up pre-arbitration players with contracts that buy out free-agent years. Peralta is not a closer.
“It’s going to be interesting to see how the reliever market moves forward because guys are switching away from traditional closer roles and they’re going into the highest leverage situations,” Bummer said. “Is there going to be a shift in the value of that? Nobody knows until it actually happens.”
