Dallas Keuchel adds rotation depth for Mariners

Seattle Times sports staff

SEATTLE – Seattle president Jerry Dipoto said he expects starting pitcher Bryan Woo (elbow inflammation) to return sometime in late April or early May. Until then, he wanted to bring in a veteran with big-league experience as rotation depth, and the Mariners found a perfect match for that in Dallas Keuchel.

Keuchel, 36, and the Mariners have agreed to a minor-league deal, and the 2015 AL Cy Young winner is scheduled to report to Triple-A Tacoma within the next week.

“With the injury scare we had with Bryan Woo … it did raise a flag of concern,” Dipoto said. “We’ve already tapped into our sixth starter (Emerson Hancock), and (we’re) just making sure that there is insurance (for) when we go to the next wave of pitchers. Nobody stays healthy for the entire year.”

Keuchel spent seven seasons with the Astros from 2012-2018, and he most recently pitched in the majors for Minnesota last season.