Dallas Keuchel will make his Atlanta Braves debut Friday against the Washington Nationals. The 2015 AL Cy Young winner signed with the Braves two weeks ago on a $13 million deal for the remainder of the season.
GAME DAY | #MLB--️ @Braves at @Nationals⏰ 6:30 p.m. ET | Braves LIVE-- FOX Sports South-- FOX Sports GO--️ Chip Caray, @JeffFrancoeur & @PaulByrd36-- LHP Dallas Keuchel pic.twitter.com/NOAOI5oxdK
— FOX Sports: Braves (@FOXSportsBraves) June 21, 2019
The 31-year-old will make his debut after to minor-league starts and hasn't pitched in a major league game since last October. He'll be up against Nationals' Stephen Strasburg.
"When he brings all of those things to the table and all of these other players see that, he's going to be a huge piece, for me, that this team needs."
Bryd says having an experienced starter in Keuchel eases the pressure on guys like Mike Soroka and Mike Foltynewicz.
"I want a guy that I say, 'Okay, I'm going to take the pressure off of Soroka, a young guy, a Fried, some other guys,' and I'm going to say here's our guy. Here's our leader. Here's the man who's been there before. Here's a Cy Young Award winner. Here's the guy that if he wants can put a World Series ring on his finger...and we're going to start him at one. Then it takes the pressure off everybody else including Folty."
