Keith Couch

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Keith Gilbert Couch

BR Minors page

Biographical Information[edit]

Starting pitcher Keith Couch began his professional career in the Boston Red Sox system in 2010.

He was 5-2 with two saves and a 2.24 ERA as a college senior. The Red Sox took him in the 13th round of that year's amateur draft. Ray Fagnant was the scout.

In his rookie professional season, 2010, Couch was 1-6 with a 4.39 ERA in 14 games (11 starts) for the Lowell Spinners but showed good control (9 BB in 55 1/3 IP). He tied for 6th in the New York-Penn League in losses. He pitched for the Greenville Drive in 2011 and went 7-5 with a 3.54 ERA in 28 games (18 starts). He was 9th in the South Atlantic League in ERA, between Garett Claypool and Angel Cuan. He walked just 19 in 137 1/3 innings. Baseball America rated him as the top control hurler in the Red Sox chain. In 2012, he was 11-9 with a 3.46 ERA in 28 games (22 starts) for the Salem Red Sox. He was third in the Carolina League in wins (behind Gus Schlosser and Cody Martin, 5th in ERA (between Brandon Workman and Jason Adam) and tied Wilmer Font for 7th with 109 strikeouts. Among Red Sox farmhands, he was third in ERA behind Steven Wright and Chris Hernandez, 8th in whiffs and fourth in wins (one behind Billy Buckner, Nelson Figueroa and Henry Owens).

In 2013, he was 11-3 with a 3.65 ERA in 30 games (16 starts) mostly spent with the Portland Sea Dogs (he started a single game for the Triple-A Pawtucket Red Sox and allowed 4 runs in 3 innings). He was 6th in the Eastern League in ERA (between Casey Sadler and David Bromberg) and tied Sadler, Nik Turley and Mike Wright for 4th in wins. He tied Owens and Anthony Ranaudo for the most wins by a Red Sox farmhand. In the Arizona Fall League, he had a 4.05 ERA for the Surprise Saguaros. He split 2014 between the GCL Red Sox (2 G) and Portland (18 G), going 8-2 with a 2.79 ERA. He again was with Surprise after the season, posting a 5.59 mark in 7 starts. In 2015, he pitched for Pawtucket, going 4-10 with a 6.14 ERA; the next year, he was 10-8 with a 3.96 mark between Portland and Pawtucket. He became a free agent following the 2016 campaign. He played briefly for the independent Long Island Ducks in 2017, going 0-2 with a 9.72 ERA in three starts.

Source: 2014 Red Sox Media Guide