Pirates' Mitch Keller living up to expectations as rotation's anchor

Pittsburgh Pirates starter Mitch Keller, now in his fifth season at the big-league level, has personified what it means to persevere since making his MLB debut in 2019.

Strides made by the 27-year-old right-hander are clear for fans of the Pirates who have watched the club navigate through a rough stretch of years that coincided with Keller’s promotion from the minor leagues.

Keller has come a long way from his first few frustrating seasons in the majors, when he showed occasional flashes of stability and progress that ultimately were overshadowed by inconsistency.

As he prepares for an upcoming start on the road against Tampa Bay (23-6), Keller (3-0, 3.53 ERA) rides a streak of five straight quality starts, tying him with Clayton Kershaw, Gerrit Cole and several others across baseball for most in the MLB.

With 18 quality starts by their rotation (Keller’s five are a team-high), the Pirates (20-9) lead the majors, with the club’s overall 3.55 ERA between the starters and bullpen ranking eighth.

“I’m really happy with how I’ve been throwing it,” Keller said after picking up a win April 27 against the Dodgers. “I’m really happy with how everyone’s throwing it in here, especially the starters.

“We’re doing all right, and then the back end of the bullpen is coming in and shutting the door, which is what you need in a winning team.”

For Keller, key in his ability to persevere over the last several seasons has been a knack for adaptability, namely by adding new pitches to his repertoire.

In 2021, when he went 5-11 with a 6.17 ERA, Keller was throwing his four-seam fastball 56.7% of the time, per Statcast.

Last season, Keller took some steps in the right direction as a major-league pitcher, finishing with a sub-four (3.91) ERA in a full season for the first time in his career.

While he went 5-12 by season’s end, Keller was bolstered by a strong second half in which he worked in a sinker and slider to his arsenal.

Most recently, Keller turned to a variant of his slider dubbed the “sweeper,” throwing it for 13.7% of his pitches to good effect against righties and left-handed batters alike.

Mitch Keller, Mean 83mph Sweeper. ????

8Ks thru 4 pic.twitter.com/tfxBWnvf3e

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) April 27, 2023

Mitch Keller, Wicked 85mph Sweeper...and Sword ⚔️

16" of horizontal break pic.twitter.com/tsQ7BM5D66

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) April 27, 2023

Now with six pitches (four-seam fastball, cutter, sinker, slider, sweeper and changeup) at his disposal, Keller has lived up to preseason expectations that unofficially pegged him as the Pirates’ rotational anchor.

While Keller had a forgettable outing March 30 on Opening Day against Cincinnati, he has rebounded with his quality-start streak, having produced a 3-0 record and 2.90 ERA over five appearances in April, striking out 32 compared to just eight walks.

“The ability to execute all pitches — I think that’s the biggest thing, where before, he had to rely on just one,” manager Derek Shelton said. “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.”

For all of Keller’s success this season, he has proven susceptible to rocky beginnings as he owns a first-inning ERA of 7.50, per Baseball Reference.

For whatever reason(s), teams have jumped on Keller early at times, although in fairness, he more often than not has managed to settle down.

On Thursday at PNC Park, after Keller issued a leadoff walk to the Dodgers, they plated two runs in the top of the first inning.

But Keller recovered and went on to tie his career high in strikeouts (10) while earning the win with the help of the Pirates’ bats, which produced six runs.

Through six starts, Keller has allowed first-inning runs to opponents in three of them. But in each instance, he has managed to battle back, turning all three of those outings into eventual quality starts.

“Looking forward, just continuing to keep going with what we’re doing, clean up a little bit of things here, especially in the first inning,” Keller said. “… I’m trying to clean that up and just keep going,” Keller said.