Mitch Keller has company among Pirates who lost their debuts

Pittsburgh Pirates management faced a dilemma after watching Mitch Keller’s major-league debut Monday in Cincinnati.

What stretch of pitches by the 23-year-old Keller mattered most? The 41 he threw in the first inning when the Reds scored six runs?

Or, the 44 he threw over his next — and final — three innings when he allowed only one hit, a single, and looked as advertised as the top prospect in the Pirates’ system? After all, he did finish the game with seven strikeouts in four innings.

After a rocky first, Keller settles in and has thrown three scoreless and collected 7 punchouts.

We're thru 4, down 6-0.#LetsGoBucs pic.twitter.com/7hU1iEbbaR

— Pirates (@Pirates) May 28, 2019

Both efforts are equally instructive, at least until he gets another start. That won’t be this week, however. The Pirates returned Keller to Triple-A Indianapolis on Tuesday.

The Reds won, 8-1, which falls in line with how debuts worked out for four of the Pirates’ five starting pitchers, Cy Young winners Vernon Law and Doug Drabek and 20-game winner and 19-year MLB veteran John Candelaria. The only two whose teams won were Jordan Lyles and Trevor Williams.

Here’s a capsule look at all of their debuts:

Jordan Lyles

Lyles, 20 at the time, was pitching for the Houston Astros, but didn’t get the decision in a 7-3 victory against the Chicago Cubs on May 31, 2011. He was leading, 1-0, going into the eighth inning at Wrigley Field when he surrendered three runs without getting an out. The Astros won it with six in the top of the ninth.

Lyles was 0-6 with a 4.41 ERA in his first 11 starts that season, finally beating the Reds, 5-4, on Aug. 3 while giving up two home runs.

Trevor Williams

Williams, 24 at the time, was a relief pitcher in 2016, his debut season, when he threw three innings, allowing one unearned run and three hits in a 4-3 victory against the St. Louis Cardinals. He became a regular member of the Pirates’ starting rotation the following spring.

Vernon Law

Law was only 20-years-old when he threw a complete game against the Philadelphia Phillies at Forbes Field on June 11, 1950, losing, 7-6. In the days long before managers worried about pitch count, Law faced 40 batters.

He was ahead, 4-2, going into the eighth inning, but he gave up five runs on three doubles, a single and two walks (one intentional). Amazingly by today’s standards, he was allowed to remain in the game and threw a scoreless ninth. His future manager, Danny Murtaugh, was Law’s second baseman that day. Murtaugh doubled during a ninth-inning rally that fell short.

Law improved as the season progressed, winning five of seven decisions in September. He won 20 games and the Cy Young for the world champion Pirates in 1960.

Doug Drabek

Drabek, 23 at the time, was pitching in relief for the New York Yankees on May 30, 1986, in a 6-3 loss to the Oakland A’s. He faced 16 batters, retiring 12 while walking three and giving up only one hit. He was traded to the Pirates in the off-season in a six-player deal that sent Rick Rhoden to the Yankees. Drabek won the Cy Young in 1990.

Musgrove

Joe Musgrove

It was only a relief appearance, but Musgrove, 23 at the time, was dominant for the Astros in a 2-1 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays on Aug. 2, 2016. He struck out eight of the 15 batters he faced, allowing only one hit in 4 1/3 innings.

Chris Archer

He lasted six innings and 82 pitches on June 20, 2012, ultimately losing a duel to the Washington Nationals’ Steven Strassburg, 3-2. But the 23-year-old Archer struck out seven and walked one while giving three runs (two unearned). It was Strassburg’s first full season in the majors and he improved his record to 9-1 at Archer’s expense.

Jameson Taillon

Taillon finally got to the majors six years after he was drafted second overall in 2010, in between Bryce Harper and Manny Machado.

A Wednesday crowd of 28,084 came to PNC Park on June 8, 2016, to watch the 24-year-old Taillon make his debut. He lasted six innings and 92 pitches and left with the scored tied, 3-3. The bullpen failed and the Pirates ended up losing, 6-5, in the 10th.

In his next start, Taillon no-hit the New York Mets for six innings in a 4-0 victory.  

John Candelaria

After allowing a total of 16 hits and six runs in his first 11 innings (starts against the San Francisco Giants and Atlanta Braves in 1975), Candelaria, 22 at the time, recorded his first victory in his third start, a 5-1 four-hitter against Tom Seaver and the New York Mets at Shea Stadium.

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