- In 2014, Mitch graduated from Xavier High School in Cedar Rapids, Iowa with a commitment to the Univ
In 2014, Keller got drafted by the Pirates (see Transactions below)
In 2015, Baseball America rated Keller as the 9th-best prospect in the Pirates organization. He dropped to #18 in the spring of 2016. He was at #2 before 2017 spring training, behind only OF Austin Meadows.
In the spring of 2018, Keller was ranked the #1 prospect in the Pirates' organization, ahead of Meadows this time. And he stayed at #1 in both the spring of 2019 and again in 2020, too.
Mitch is very coachable, anxious to learn and quick to implement.
To pitch or putt? That was the question Mitch Keller weighed when he was a high school sophomore. Keller was a dominant high school pitcher, but he also possessed talent on the golf course. He once shot a 2-under-par round in the Iowa high school state postseason tournaments. But Keller didn’t follow the path of Zach Johnson, a fellow Iowan with two major titles, including a Masters championship. Instead, Keller chose baseball.
"I kind of knew in the back of my head what I wanted to do. I kind of figured that if I was going to play college golf, I probably wouldn’t. It’s really hard to be a pro golfer. And I had already been told I could be a professional baseball player." (jdill@bradenton.com - April 2017)
2017-2018: Mitch was invited to play in the AFL Fall Stars Game. Keller showed his stuff in a perfect opening frame.
Keller's 2019 Season:
What went right? If you’re a fan of fielding-independent pitching numbers, you’re likely a believer in Keller. He posted a 3.19 FIP and 3.47 xFIP, both the best marks among active Pirates pitchers at the end of the season. Statcast predicts better days ahead, too, as Keller’s .256 expected average and .389 expected slugging percentage were well below the actual .348 average and .546 slugging percentage he allowed.
Those encouraging numbers were a product of Keller striking out 65 batters, walking 16 and allowing six homers in his 48 innings on the mound. If he maintains those rates while experiencing a dip in his absurdly high .478 batting average on balls in play (league average is around .300), he’ll be well on his way to fulfilling his potential.
It’s easy to like Keller’s easy, mid-90s fastball. His curveball is a weapon when he can convince opponents that he’s able to throw it for a strike as well as a swing-and-miss pitch. The slider he added earlier this year has diversified his arsenal. He threw 151.2 innings between Triple-A Indianapolis and Pittsburgh, setting him up for a full season’s worth of work next year. And there’s no doubt he learned a lot about how his stuff plays in the Majors by making 11 starts this season.
“Just a huge, huge, huge learning experience,” Keller said. “Everything about it was a learning experience, from the good outings to the bad ones to being sent down to being brought back up and everything in between. Just a huge learning experience.”
Best moment: He went into the offseason on a high note, holding the Cubs to one run while striking out seven over five innings in his last start of the season. But his best outing overall was Aug. 23 against the Reds, the same team that welcomed him to the Majors on May 27 with a six-run first inning. Nearly three months after his big league debut, Keller permitted only one run on six hits and a walk while striking out nine at PNC Park. He established his 95 mph fastball in the strike zone, throwing 20 of 24 first-pitch strikes on the night, while mixing in legitimate swing-and-miss curveballs and sliders. Keller also set a season-high with 20 swinging strikes; only Jordan Lyles recorded more in one game for the Pirates this year. (Adam Berry - MLB.com - Oct. 18, 2019)
Heading into 2020 Spring Training: Keller is the latest pitching prospect to top the Pirates’ system, joining the likes of Gerrit Cole, Jameson Taillon and Tyler Glasnow in the last decade. Keller has flashed the pure stuff to be a top-of-the-rotation starter, though the Pirates haven’t gotten those results consistently from the previous group. Keller’s chances might be better. He will work with a new big league pitching coach, following the firing of Ray Searage, and likely a more updated organizational pitching philosophy, which has held Pirates pitching prospects back in recent years. (Tim Williams - BA Prospect Handbook - Spring 2020)
TRANSACTIONS