Door appears to be open between Twins and Dallas Keuchel

Keuchel remains unsigned after posting a 1.13 ERA in six starts with the Triple-A St. Paul Saints and even though he's reportedly opted out of his deal, would the Twins sign him to replace Joe Ryan in the starting rotation? Or at least give him a break?

Ryan served up four homers in Minnesota's 7-3 loss to the Cardinals Wednesday night and the young right-hander has been hammered by opposing batters in his seven starts since pitching a complete game shutout against Boston on June 22. 

• June 27 vs. Braves: 3 innings, 9 hits, 6 runs, 5 homers
• July 3 vs. Royals: 6 innings, 6 hits, 2 runs, 1 homer
• July 9 vs. Orioles: 4.1 innings, 5 hits, 5 runs, 2 homers
• July 16 vs. Athletics: 5.1 innings, 5 hits, 3 runs, 1 homer
• July 21 vs. White Sox: 6 innings, 7 hits, 4 runs, 2 homers
• July 26 vs. Mariners: 3.2 innings, 7 hits, 4 runs, 2 homers
• Aug. 3 vs. Cardinals: 4 innings, 9 hits, 7 runs, 4 homers

That's 17 homers allowed in seven starts since his shutout, which actually breaks the Twins' all-time record for homers allowed in a seven-game span. Bert Blyleven allowed 15 homers in seven-game stretches in both 1986 and 1987 and Carlos Silva gave up 15 homers in a seven-game span in 2006. 

Keuchel's ability, however, to still get MLB hitters out at a consistent level is the question the Twins and other teams have to answer. And can he do so better than Ryan, who despite owning an 8.63 ERA in his last seven outings has also struck out 52 batters in just 32.1 innings. 

Keuchel won the AL Cy Young award with the Astros in 2015 and in the COVID-shortened 2020 season he was fifth in Cy Young voting after posting a 1.99 ERA with the White Sox in 11 starts. But his numbers since then have tumbled. The left-hander owned a 5.28 ERA with the White Sox in 2021 followed by a 9.20 ERA while bouncing around between Chicago, Arizona and Texas for 14 starts in 2022.