Watching Mitch Keller develop into the pitcher he has become over the last couple of seasons is honestly one of my favorite things I’ve done following this organization.
It’s been ugly, but the turnaround has absolutely been worth the wait.
Keller found another level this year, even been added into some of the early season Cy Young conversations.
After a couple rough starts during the Pirates west coast road trip, it seemed like a little home cooking against the worst team in the majors was the recipe Keller needed to get back on track.
It was far from that, as he allowed five earned runs on eight hits and four walks across 5.1 innings pitched. The single strikeout he registered was the lowest of the season for him, and the fourth time he’s done that in the majors.
There’s been somewhat a fine line that Keller has been walking this season, something maybe has been exposed recently. While he’s putting up the strikeouts, (87th percentile for K%, according to Baseball Savant), he’s doing it in a little more unconventional way.
Mitch Keller, Painted 83mph Back Door Sweeper.
Keller currently has the fourth most called strike calls with 228, which has been a big driving force behind his success in striking batters out. His hasn’t been great at getting hitters to chase (46th percentile) or generating swing and miss (30th percentile whiff%), instead relying on his pinpoint control to rack up the strikeouts.
With the control varying as of late, it’s opened the door for more contact to be made against him – and some added walks as we saw against in Oakland. In his last three starts Keller has allowed 25 hits and seven walks (across 17.1 innings pitched).
This is a big part of not only being a major league pitcher, but also a successful one. Teams adjust to you, now it’s time to push back against the league.
Keller has shown the ability to do so before, we will see if he can do it again.
Prospect Notes
— An injury really derailed the start of the season for Jack Brannigan, he’s starting to make up for lost time. After hitting his first home run on the season Sunday, he followed that up with two more on Tuesday. He finished the day 3-for-5 with two home runs, a double and six RBI.
Jack Brannigan 2-run shot to LF & its 2-0 @The_Marauders pic.twitter.com/eAY0wHNPhI
— Florida Prospect Report (@FLProspectPod) June 6, 2023
He’s an intriguing player with some tools, who got off to a strong start last year before going a little cold by the end of the season. I really thought he had a chance to move straight to Greensboro to start the year, and now that he’s healthy he may be able to start pushing that.
— There were times where Anthony Solometo didn’t put himself in the best of situations, but he dug deep and got out of any jam he was in. It wasn’t the cleanest starts for him, but regardless he finished the night with 6 IP, 5 H, R (unearned), BB, 4 K.
He hasn’t allowed an earned run in each of his last three starts, and has an 1.60 ERA over his last 33.2 IP since the start of May.
Daily Video Rundown
Rodolfo Nolasco almost goes down to one knee to send this one over the left field fence. 8-2 Bradenton pic.twitter.com/Wkm6BEp9MY
— Anthony Murphy (@__Murphy88) June 6, 2023
Rodolfo Nolasco nearly goes down to one knee to hit this absolute bomb for the Marauders, routing Dunedin in the first game of their weekly series.
PIT RHP prospect Owen Kellington k’s 2 in a scoreless 1st #strikeouts pic.twitter.com/FgtchGYZ3Y
— Florida Prospect Report (@FLProspectPod) June 6, 2023
In his first full season of pro ball, Owen Kellington is navigating through the ups and downs that come with it. He picks up a couple of strikeouts in the first inning of his latest start.
PIRATES PROSPECTS DAILY
By Tim Williams
Looking for the Prospect Watch, Pirates Recap, and a place to discuss the games? Check out our new daily feature, Pirates Prospects Live.
P2Live: Pirates Lose Big to A’s; Henry Davis Debuts for Indianapolis
**Ryan Palencer wrote about Carmen Mlodzinski’s improvements in the Indianapolis bullpen.
**The Pirates officially announced the Henry Davis promotion to Indianapolis, while moving Abrahan Gutierrez to Altoona.
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