Mitch Keller Aware of but Not Distracted by Continued Trade Speculation
PITTSBURGH – It’s that time of the year where rumors continue to swirl leading up to the July 31 trade deadline.
The Pirates, who are 41-61 after defeating the Detroit Tigers on Tuesday night, will be trading players from their big-league roster with an eye towards 2026 and beyond.
Numerous players have been the subject of trade speculation, including starter Mitch Keller, who was the winning pitcher after tossing six-solid innings against the Tigers.
Keller has been linked to several contending teams across the league, including the Chicago Cubs, New York Mets and Toronto Blue Jays. There are other interested teams too.
While Keller is a hot commodity on the trade market as arguably the top starting pitcher who could switch teams by the end of the month, he isn’t letting the rumors distract him.
“Obviously, that comes around every July. You definitely hear the noise but you’ve got to move past it. There’s nothing I can do about it. It’s not like I can say that I don’t want to be traded or if I do get traded to say where I’m going or anything. So there’s no point in worrying about it. That’s my take on it.”
Keller didn’t seem too distracted in Tuesday’s start against Detroit. The right-hander delivered his 15th quality start of the season, which are tied with the Philadelphia Phillies’ Zack Wheeler and the San Francisco Giants’ Logan Webb for the most in baseball.
Keller allowed a three-run home run to Jake Rogers in the fifth inning, but was otherwise in complete control throughout his outing. His efforts resulted in his third-straight win after dropping 10-straight decisions earlier in the season.
“Keller, another quality start, can’t say enough about him,” manager Don Kelly said postgame. “Getting the team win, but getting Mitch one as well was really nice.”
The 29-year-old has been a model of consistency this season. At the end of his latest start, Keller ranked sixth in baseball with 125 innings pitched. Despite a lousy 4-10 record – through no fault of his own – he has a respectable 3.53 ERA on the year.
“I don’t know, honestly. I don’t have the answer to that,” Keller said when asked what’s allowed him to be so consistent. “Probably adding my sinker and sweeper. I have seven pitches, six pitches or whatever it is now. That definitely helped a lot, just getting more comfortable here with the game, the speed of the game and everything involved with that.”
Looking at the Pirates’ schedule, Keller’s next turn in the rotation will come on the first game of the upcoming road trip in San Francisco. That means, this very well could have been Keller’s last home start at PNC Park.
Despite that possibility, Keller treated it like any other outing.
“I recognize that it’s there. It happens to everybody. We kind of make jokes about it a little bit. I don’t think there’s anything to stress over because there’s nothing we can do about it.”
Teams will continue to call general manager Ben Cherington’s phone over the next nine days, and Keller will be the subject of many of those conversations.
In the meantime, Keller will continue to go about his business in a Pirates’ uniform, but it’s a very real possibility he’s pitching on a new team come Aug. 1 — despite signing a five-year extension only 17 months ago.
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