Keller Showing Ace-Like Stuff Since Returning From IL
At the beginning of the 2020 season, all eyes were on Mitch Keller as he was ready to embark in his first full season in the Major Leagues. Many thought it was the year that the Pirates #1 overall prospect would take his spot atop the Pirates rotation and become the ace of the staff. However, Coronavirus gave Keller his first delay to the season, and injury caused his second delay, leading to Keller appearing in just four games so far this season. Once the season officially did get started, Keller was slated into the number three spot in the rotation and started the third game of the season against the St. Louis Cardinals.
Keller pitched well turning in a quality start and earning his first win of the season and helped the Pirates move to 1-2. Keller was rolling right along in his second start, but the oblique would strike forcing him to leave the game after just 2.2 innings of work. The outing shot his ERA up and completely derailed his season. However, after a month of rehab and some work down at the satellite training camp in Altoona, Keller was ready for his return and has been strong since returning. His fastball has the zip back to it and all four of his breaking balls have been on point. Let's look at Keller's last two starts and see how it can help the young starter moving forward.
Keller Has Been on Fire
Ever since returning to the Pirates starting rotation, Keller has put up an ace like numbers through his first two starts. He has allowed just two hits over his last nine innings of work, giving up three earned runs while walking six and striking out ten batters. Unfortunately for Keller, the two hits that he did give up were a two-run home run and a solo home run that has led to all three of his runs allowed. The nice thing to see is that his fastball still has the velocity that he left with and his breaking ball is showing some nice action. After sitting out for more than a month, Keller made his return to the mound in Cincinnati on September 14th in the second half of a doubleheader.
Right from the first at-bat of the night, you could tell Keller's fastball was back. He three seven straight fastballs to Reds leadoff hitter Shogo Akiyama all of which hitting either 94 or 95 miles per hour. Unfortunately, he didn't find the strike zone on the high fastballs and he walked him. However, he was bailed out with a clean inning on a strike him out throw him out double play and he ended with a scoreless frame. He would walk the leadoff hitter in the second inning and it would come back to bite him two batters later when Brian Goodwin lifted a two-run home run to left-center giving the Reds a 2-1 lead. He would have two more walks in the inning but got out of it with a flyout. His final inning saw him give up another solo home run to Joey Votto, but he would strike out his final two batters using his four-seam and curveball to end the game.
Then, came his outing last night where he was unhittable in six innings of work, quite literally. Keller allowed two men to reach in the first inning on a one-out walk and a two-out hit by pitch, but he would strand both runners with a Paul DeJong groundout to end the inning. After allowing another one-out walk in the second inning, Keller went on to retire the next 14 batters he faced before coming out of the game with 84 pitches through six innings of work. He finished the game with six strikeouts, three of which coming during that 14-batter stretch, and he did not walk a batter during his final four innings of work. Unfortunately, his bullpen couldn't pick him up and he would be handed a no-decision after what was the best start of his young Major League career.
Keller Tweaks Some Things in His Wind-up
After not seeing Keller on a big-league mound for over a month, he had some time to step back and reevaluate what was working and what wasn't. He made some tweaks to his approach that, at least through his first two starts from the injured list, have made him look like a more effective pitcher. The first big change I see is the fact that Keller isn't working from the wind-up and is going straight to the stretch position. Second, his throwing motion is much more compact than it used to be and, as a result, he is getting the ball to the plate much faster. With a quicker motion, it allows his mid 90s fastball to get on the hitters much faster and is causing them issues at the plate.
The first big change has been Keller going away from the wind-up and working straight from the stretch position. Prior to his injury, Keller had a long wind-up that saw him start facing the batter before shuffling his feet to get to the stretch. There was a lot of movement and things that Keller needed to get right every time. Now that he is starting from the stretch, that eliminates all that movement and allows Keller to focus solely on his arm placement and getting the ball to the plate. It makes Keller's 95 mile per hour fastball get on the hitter that much quicker, forcing the batter to get ready faster. This could play into Keller's favor because he likes to work up in the zone and a high fastball can be hard to catch up to.
His second change complements the new quicker motion as his arm motion is more compact. This move seems to be more to protect the injured oblique than anything else. Prior to the injury, Keller had more of a 3/4 arm slot that forced him to move his entire body to get the pitch where he wanted. Now, he is using more of an overhead arm slot creating less movement from his left side, and relying more on his follow-through. Jameson Taillon has made a similar adjustment in his delivery to save his arm and pitching coach Oscar Marin seems to be trying to implement the same strategy with Keller. If it is something that can keep the Pirates pitchers healthy, it will benefit this team in the long run, after being plagued by injuries the last several seasons.
I am excited to see what Keller can do over a full season in the Pirates rotation. I truly believe that Keller wasn't ready for the Majors when he was initially brought up. It was those injuries that have plagued the Pirates that forced him up in late May 2019 and led to his 1-5 record and 7.23 ERA last season. He also spent some time transitioning between Triple-A and the Majors all season long and he never really could get into a groove. 2020 was supposed to be his year to break out, but injuries forced him to the shelf. With his changes to his movement and a, hopefully, full season in 2021, Keller might be able to take that next step and become the Pirates ace of the staff.
The Pittsburgh Pirates (15-37) wrap up their five-game series with the St. Louis Cardinals (25-24) this afternoon at 4:05 pm. Joe Musgrove (0-5, 5.74) tries to turn things around in his second to last start of the season for Pittsburgh while Jack Flaherty (3-2, 5.52) goes for the Cardinals. You can watch the game live on AT&T Sportsnet or listen on 93.7 The Fan. With eight games left in the 2020 season, the Pirates are looking to end the season on a high note as they prepare for 2021.
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