Perrotto: Mitch Keller Answering One Remaining Question (+)
Mitch Keller has spent the first month of this season answering the one remaining question.
During the final four months of last season, the Pittsburgh Pirates right-hander proved he come be a quality major league starting pitcher. He finally lived up to the hype that surrounded him when he arrived in the big leagues in 2019 touted as one of the top pitching prospects in baseball.
Now, Keller is showing that he can be a consistently good starting pitcher, not just one who can occasionally turn in a good outing.
Keller (3-0, 3.53) takes a streak of five consecutive quality starts and an unbeaten record into Wednesday night’s game against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg. He will face left-hander Shane McClanahan (5-0, 2.10) in what shapes up as a marquee matchup between the teams with the two best records in the major leagues.
Keller says he is even more excited about the Pirates’ 20-10 record than his own unblemished mark.
“I’m really happy with how I’ve been throwing it. I’m really happy with how everyone’s throwing it, especially the starters,” Keller said. “We’re doing alright and then the back end of the bullpen is coming in and shutting the door, which is what you need in a winning team. Continue to keep going on what we’re doing. Clean up a little bit of things here, especially in the first inning. So, I’m trying to clean that up and just keep going.”
The first inning has been a bit of a problem for Keller this season. He has given up five first-inning runs in his first six starts and opponents are hitting .292 against him in the opening frame.
However, Keller has been awfully good in just about every other inning. He has struck out 40 in 35.2 innings while walking 12.
Pirates manager Derek Shelton feels the 27-year-old Keller has benefitted from expanding his arsenal of quality pitchers over the last two seasons.
“The ability to execute all pitches. I think that’s the biggest thing,” Shelton said when asked for the reason for Keller’s success. “Where before he had to rely on just one. Now he knows that if he has to put the ball on the ground, he has the sinker to be able to do it. Adding the sweeper in to be able to execute … I think having multiple weapons is what has maintained the consistency there.”
In his last start, Keller beat the Los Angeles Dodgers at PNC Park last Thursday. He tied a career high with 10 strikeouts while allowing two runs and five hits in six innings.
Beating the Dodgers in Los Angeles last May 31 seems to have been the tipping point in Keller’s career. He allowed two runs in five innings following a brief demotion to the bullpen in which he pitched twice in relief.
Beginning with that start, Keller went on to post a 3.22ERA — which offset a 4-7 record on a 100-loss team – over his last 22 starts of the season. Keller had a 7-22 career record and 6.03 ERA in 48 games (46 starts) prior to that night in Chavez Ravine.
However, Keller isn’t one to look back on that game – or much of anything – especially with the Pirates leading the National League Central this season following four consecutive last-place finishes.
“I’m just trying to keep going, keep the good thing going,” Keller said. “I try not to think too much of last year, more or less just looking at scouting reports is about all I’ve watched about last year.
“I think we’re just playing really good baseball. Everything’s clicking. We’re hitting the ball, we’re pitching the ball, we’re running, we’re playing defense – we’re doing everything right. There’s no doubt in our minds in this clubhouse that we can do that every night. I think that’s a really special thing we’ve got going.”
Keller is certainly playing his part – and on a consistently good basis.
More about:PBN+ Pirates Pirates Analysis