Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Mitch Keller has been named as the National League Player of the Week for the week of May 8-14.
We like to call it Mitchcraft.
Mitch Keller has been selected as the NL Player of the Week presented by @chevrolet. pic.twitter.com/IY3bIsnZRT
— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) May 15, 2023
Keller started on Monday against the Colorado Rockies at PNC Park. He tossed a complete game shutout on four hits, one walk and eight strikeouts.
He made his second start of the week on Sunday, pitching on the road against the Baltimore Orioles. He threw seven shutout innings yesterday, finishing with four hits, no walks and 13 strikeouts.
Those starts left him with a 5-1, 2.38 record in nine starts, with a 2.63 FIP, a 1.02 WHIP and 69 strikeouts in 56.2 innings this year.
He ranks sixth in the National League in ERA, seventh in WHIP and third in strikeouts.
John started working at Pirates Prospects in 2009, but his connection to the Pittsburgh Pirates started exactly 100 years earlier when Dots Miller debuted for the 1909 World Series champions. John was born in Kearny, NJ, two blocks from the house where Dots Miller grew up. From that hometown hero connection came a love of Pirates history, as well as the sport of baseball.
When he didn't make it as a lefty pitcher with an 80+ MPH fastball and a slider that needed work, John turned to covering the game, eventually focusing in on the prospects side, where his interest was pushed by the big league team being below .500 for so long. John has covered the minors in some form since the 2002 season, and leads the draft and international coverage on Pirates Prospects. He writes daily on Pittsburgh Baseball History, when he's not covering the entire system daily throughout the entire year on Pirates Prospects.
Keller start on normal rest friday with two off days this week or will everyone get their turn?
play it by ear – – – – – Ortiz to long relief if need be
Would be fine to skip hills start and have him ready for emergency long relief
Wonder how it feels to have a half a billion bucks in the bank. I could afford that ’69 xke jag that I have always wanted.
Bravo! Keep it up! After the long adjustment period in MLB, keep doing what you’re doing and be ready to adapt as needed.
In a world that heavily believes in baseball “jinxes”, I ALMOST wish they would have ignored his week.
Way to go, Mitch!
Of the SP’s currently in NL top ten for ERA, I’d venture to say only Gallen, Strider, and May are in Keller’s league. Yes I’m throwing shade at you Clayton Kershaw!
You know who’s still really damn good? Charlie Morton. Age 39.
When he’s on, he’s so much fun to watch pitch. Still can’t believe the Bucs couldn’t score 3 runs against Wacha to make him a winner in a division series clinching game. 🤬
Perfect segway to an extension announcement, somewhere around 100 mil ought to do it…..
Great for Mitch. Not that wins is the greatest stat for a pitcher but he has already matched his career high.
Good stuff, now sign that 6/70 and call it a hell of a week
Mitch has only pitched over 100 innings in one season. This could be an offseason extension……I wouldn’t even put “extension” into his head right now during the season.
Gonna probably cost more than that…..
My guess is that he pencils-out somewhere between Hayes and Reynolds, prob closer to Hayes than Reynolds.
Will depend on what he and his agent feel his FA worth will be and if the years that encompass his FA years in an extension will be in the ballpark of what he thinks he is worth. If he is of similar mindset of Reynolds and Hayes he may take a lesser dollar amount and stay in a lower key market that will not parse ever pitch of every game like would happen in NY, LA, Chicago or Philly, there will be a decent change he gets extended. If he is of the mindset that wants the most $$ he could possibly get, he will never get extended here. I put it at 60-70% chance he extends. Could take the Reynolds route where he signs a 2 year deal heading into arbitration and then extends longer after the 1st season of that deal.
Yeah, Musgrove got 5/100, Mitch is going to push $20 mil per year unless he regresses steeply
Those are all FA years.
Great to see and very well deserved
Well deserved, Congrats Mitch!