CHARLESTON, WV – Today’s announcement of the South Atlantic League All-Star roster featured three West Virginia Power players, both pitchers and hitters. Two of the selections were virtual guarantees, as Mitch Keller and Tito Polo are near the top of the SAL leader board in numerous categories. Ke’Bryan Hayes joined as a reserve.
The Starters
Going into the season, the Pirates placed high hopes on Mitch Keller. The second-round pick in the 2014 Draft, Keller ranked No. 8 on our 2015 prospect list but fell to No. 18 in 2016 after the emergence of fellow right-handed starters Yeudy Garcia and Chad Kuhl and lefties Steven Brault and Steven Tarpley. Forearm tightness and a high walk total contributed to Keller’s step back in the rankings. Those two issues seem to now be a thing of the past for Keller. In ten starts, Keller’s line is 57 IP, 37 H, 12 R, 12 ER, 5 BB, and 64 K.
Much has been said about Tito Polo, our May player of the month. Polo lives and breathes baseball; he’s a gym rat, as evidenced by his 5’9″, 185-pound frame. He also has had considerable time to grow into the all-around ballplayer he is today. He made his professional debut at 17 years old, and only three other Power players have more professional appearances under their belt: Daniel Arribas, Carlos Munoz, and Alfredo Reyes.
Signs point to Polo continuing his success in the second half of the season. His average and on-base percentage have remained consistent throughout his professional career, and this year’s burst of power isn’t just a hot streak that catapulted him to the league lead in homers. He has at least one extra-base hit in 40 percent of his games this year.
The Reserve
Ke’Bryan Hayes, a Pirates’ first-round pick last year, landed on the roster as a utility infielder. At only 19 years old, Hayes is the sixth-youngest all-star selection and the youngest player on the Power roster. Hayes opened the season at an incredible rate, slashing .343/.368/.457 in April. He struggled throughout May, though, ending the month with a .214/.292/.381 line. Part of that numerical drop off can be attributed to Hayes’s increased aggression at the plate; in May, his strikeout total nearly doubled while his home run total quadrupled. In the first few games in June, Hayes has made good contact, but his strikeout rate remains high, averaging one per contest.
Hayes has shown considerable prowess at third base. He mans the corner with confidence and has remarkable arm strength. That powerful arm enables him to slow the game down and take a breath, especially on hard-hit balls, which decreases the likelihood of an error. So far, he has made a mere five errors in 127 chances at the hot corner.
