Pirates A to Z: Mitch Keller's rollercoaster ride included a demotion, change to delivery

During the offseason, the Tribune-Review will offer Pirates A to Z: An alphabetical player-by-player look at the 40-man roster, from outfielder Anthony Alford to pitcher Miguel Yajure.

Player: Mitch Keller

Position: Pitcher

Throws: Right

Bats: Right

Age: 25

Height: 6-foot-2

Weight: 220 pounds

2021 MLB statistics: Keller was 5-11 with a 6.17 ERA and 1.79 WHIP in 100 2/3 innings over 23 starts.

Contract: Not eligible for arbitration until 2023.

Acquired: Drafted by Pirates in second round in 2014.

This past season: After pitching a combined 69 2/3 innings over 16 starts in his first two seasons, the Pirates were hoping their top prospect the previous two seasons would take a big leap in his first full season.

They placed pressure on Keller by trading previous Opening Day starters Joe Musgrove and Jameson Taillon in January, banking on Keller to move into the top of the rotation.

“It’s definitely a weird last year, seeing all of our top-end starters go other places,” Keller said. “When you take away four of the five starting pitchers, that’s a big group to make up again.”

Instead of seizing the start on Opening Day, Keller struggled with his command in spring training. He had an 11.91 ERA in five starts, walking eight and striking out 11 in 11 1/3 innings.

Keller’s confidence took a hit when the rollercoaster results continued in the regular season, with a good outing followed by a bad one as he went 1-3 with an 8.20 ERA, 19 strikeouts and 13 walks in the first month.

I’m not sure what’s going to come of Derek Shelton as a major league manager or Mitch Keller as a major league starter, but if either of them is ever a part of paying off on the promise to turn the Pirates around, this is going to be a special moment to look back on. pic.twitter.com/PNpCMOQ7Z4

— Chris Mack (@THEChrisMack) April 11, 2021

Keller bottomed out on June 10 against the Los Angeles Dodgers, when he gave up four runs on five hits, three walks and hit two batters with 0-2 counts in 2 2/3 innings in a 6-3 loss. At that point, he was 3-7 with a 7.04 ERA and 1.796 WHIP over 47 1/3 innings in 12 starts.

Although he led the Pirates with 9.7 strikeouts per nine innings, his 5.5 walks per nine were alarming. So was his demeanor, especially after Keller declared himself “probably the most (ticked) off guy in this locker room.” Two days later, the Pirates optioned Keller to Triple-A Indianapolis in hopes that he could turn it around.

“I guess we just got to a point where we felt like, here’s a young, really talented young guy who’s working hard and we believe in and really has been, we believe, working on the things that we feel are going to be helpful to him between starts while he was in the big leagues,” Pirates general manager Ben Cherington said. “But the execution in games was inconsistent, obviously, as we all saw. There were times where it looked good and times where it didn’t look as good. We wanted to give it as much time as we could coming into the season. There was no magic date or anything. We just got to a point where we felt like, let’s change the environment.”

Keller first worked out of the bullpen for Indianapolis, reducing the pressure he was placing on himself. He pitched one inning of relief against Memphis, facing three batters and getting two strikeouts and a groundout while relying primarily on his fastball on eight pitches.

“You don’t have to be perfect with every pitch if you’re him, because his stuff’s really good,” Cherington said, “but a little more consistent execution and then back up from that, we just really want him to be totally committed to every pitch, full confidence and commitment to every pitch. Now that’s easier said than done.”

The Pirates saw a positive in that Keller remained engaged and committed to turning it around, pointing to those traits as signs of growth and maturity in a young starting pitcher.

When Mitch Keller is on his game, he makes hitters wave and walk away at this pitch. #Pirates pic.twitter.com/5yTUl4gJmU

— Tim Williams (@TimWilliamsPBN) August 21, 2021

Keller had one of his most promising starts on Aug. 20 against the St. Louis Cardinals, tossing five scoreless innings and allowing six hits and one walk while striking out six on 89 pitches to help snap a five-game losing streak with a 4-0 victory.

In six starts over the final month, Keller was 1-1 with a 4.71 ERA and 24 strikeouts against 11 walks.

“I think he has matured. I think mentally has probably been the biggest part of it,” Shelton said. “Early in the year, before we optioned him out, I think we at times saw innings get away from him. Since he’s been back up, I think we’ve seen him, if he’s gotten into trouble, minimize that damage. That’s severe signs of growth and being mentally strong. We still have developmental goals in terms of his delivery and what he’s doing, and we’ll continue to work on those through the offseason and into next spring training. Mentally, I think he grew up a bunch.”

The future: After giving up six runs on nine hits and three walks in an 8-6 win over the Chicago Cubs on Sept. 28, the Pirates challenged Keller to let it rip by lengthening the arm swing on his delivery and throwing more from his backside in his final start.

Keller allowed one run on three hits with one walk and three strikeouts in three innings in a 6-3 loss to the Cincinnati Reds on Oct. 3, when the velocity on his four-seamer touched 96 mph.

“Absolutely, we did see the good-bad, good-bad early on,” Pirates pitching coach Oscar Marin said. “He had that stint over in the minor leagues where he did a couple different things. Didn’t always start. Came out of the bullpen. I think that showed him a little bit about himself, as well. When he came back, especially in the month of September, which was a pretty good month for him, I think we saw that. We saw him get through that big inning where he wasn’t getting through before, kind of slowing things like that down.”

Keller ’s four-pitch repertoire lacked a put-away pitch. And he wasn’t just hittable — with an expected batting average of .285 — but ranked among baseball’s worst pitchers in hard-hit rate (47.5%) and average exit velocity (91.5 mph). The Pirates gave Keller a pitching program to work on to address those shortcomings in an effort to return to form.

“Obviously, numbers-wise, it wasn’t the best, but I think I did a lot of growth — mentally, physically, emotionally,” Keller said. “I figured out a lot of stuff about my delivery and how I want to pitch and how I need to pitch to be successful. So overall, I think it was a really good year for me — not numbers wise, but as a person and as a pitcher, and just knowing what I need to do to get better.”