The first time Mike Fiers met Dallas Keuchel, they were opposing each other as starters in Class AAA. Fiers, then a minor leaguer in the Milwaukee Brewers’ system, saw things in Keuchel that reminded him of himself: pedestrian velocity, good command, multiple pitches. The difference was in the results.
“Everyone was coming back to the dugout wondering why they didn’t get a hit,” Fiers said. “You’re thinking, like, ‘There’s got to be some kind of strategy to it.’ ”
Fiers and Keuchel are now teammates in the rotation of the Houston Astros, and the same strategy, more or less, has propelled Keuchel to a season worthy of Cy Young Award consideration, even as many baseball fans are just beginning to learn the pronunciation of his surname (KY-kull).