Mitch Keller Gives His Secrets for Success (+)
If there was any Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher who was a wild card heading into the 2022 season, it was Mitch Keller.
Keller, up to that point, had shown flashes of a really good pitcher, but because of inconsistencies and what seemed to be a lack of confidence, he had yet to live up to that “ace” billing.
During the offseason heading into the ’22 season, videos started surfacing of Keller throwing 100 mph, along with what seemed to be a newfound sense of confidence and swagger.
Hoards of Pirates fans and media hurried to social media, and buzz started to circle the former second-round pick.
The murmurs of “could this be the year?” or “he’s finally putting it all together?” started circling the water coolers in Pittsburgh regarding Keller.
Fast forward to the beginning of the ’22 season, and similar issues started to pop up for Keller.
In April, Keller had an ERA of 6.62, giving up four runs in all but one start. The one start in April that looked promising was on April 20 against Milwaukee, when he gave up just one run in 5.1 innings.
As the months got hotter, though, so did Keller.
Keller had an ERA of 4.10 in June, 2.61 in July, 4.70 in August, and 1.80 in September. From July 6-Aug 5, Keller managed to go at least six innings. His worst start in that six-game span came on July 6 against the Yankees, where he went six innings and gave up four earned runs.
By the end of the year, Keller recorded the best of his four major league seasons.
Keller’s ERA was 3.91; he pitched the most innings in his major league career with 159 and recorded his best FIP since his rookie season at 3.88.
What would be the reasoning for the success? It partially could be Keller’s newfound sinker.
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“I just started picking it up and throwing it a couple of times,” said Keller. “We noticed that it was moving quite a bit and started to think that the sinker could be a good pitch for me. We then got the sinker on Rapsodo and Trackman, and it started getting better from there. Going into this offseason, throwing the sinker to both sides of the plate has been a huge focus for me.”
Keller continued to elaborate on why the ’22 season was such a success for him.
“I think implementing the sinker and slider took the stress off of all my other pitches,” said Keller. “I was able to feel free again with the new pitches, and it allowed me to dominate the zone. Being able to have that confidence come back and knowing I belong and my knowing my stuff can get guys out helped me tremendously throughout the season. I classify it as a snowball effect where when one thing gets going, all other things follow.”
It’s not that Keller strayed from the four-seam as the season went on, but it seemed to me that the sinker became his true No. 1 pitch.
A fair question would be if Keller would keep both the four-seam and sinker or primarily stick to the sinker as his primary weapon of choice.
“I’m definitely going to keep both of them,” said Keller emphatically. “There were a lot of games last year in the latter parts where I really used the sinker and the four-seam together as a pair and use them off of each other. My four-seam doesn’t have much rise or run to it, so having the sinker allows me to deceive the hitters with my four-seam, which helps a lot.”
Another huge factor in Keller’s success has been a big velocity jump in his four-seam. There were points in his career where he was pumping low 90s, and all of the sudden, the fastball is consistently in the high 90s, and it’s even touched 100.
“The reasoning behind my velo jump can probably be attributed to my strength workouts and lifting heavier during the season than I had in the past instead of just trying to maintain,” Keller said. “Another aspect would be me getting into better positions for throwing and getting me back into some solid mechanics again.”
Moving more towards the team as a whole, the Pirates have been busier than usual this offseason, and one of their acquisitions was a savvy veteran in left-hander Rich Hill.
Keller discussed what it meant to him and the team to have such a veteran presence as the 43-year-old Hill in the clubhouse.
“It’s kind of like the Quintana experience from last year,” said Keller, referring to left-hander Jose Quintana. “Rich has been around, and he’s done a lot of things and has been in some huge situations on some winning teams. Another factor is he’s been around losing situations, so to have a guy like that for the younger guys is huge because he knows what it takes and knows how to do it. I’m excited to have him around and have the opportunity to talk to him.”
Coupled with the Hill acquisition, it seems the Pirates are trying to assemble a viable on-field product. In years past, that hasn’t been much of a thing, so what has Keller seen from this front office to give the team and fans some hope?
“I think you’re starting to see some things happen and come together,” said Keller. “The culture and the feel of the clubhouse seem different than before. Guys are starting to feel more confident about their game, and I think we’re really close. I think it’s just a matter of knowing and believing that we belong. The moment that I think we should look back on was when we swept the Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. That moment was when I thought we could beat anybody, and I think guys are starting to feel that too.”