Hembree mastered it last summer with the Reds. Since late June, when his slider settled in with elite horizontal movement, Kellers version of the pitch has been rated as the second-best slider in baseball by Stuff+. Keller went into spring training aiming to earn the Opening Day starter assignment. The Reds gave Mitch Keller a rude introduction to the majors in the first inning of his debut. 1. Yeah, its the new thing, Keller said. PHOENIX -- The game felt weird to begin with and it stayed weird later, as the Pirates squandered two leads to drop another game in the desert. Mitch Keller - Stats - Pitching | FanGraphs Baseball BALTIMORE (AP) Amid a dreadful May stretch for Pittsburgh, Mitch Keller provided another reminder of how good the Pirates looked just a few weeks ago. On Friday, Kellers demeanor never betrayed even a whiff of panic. Cherington says credit for the transformation belongs first and foremost with Keller, but it also is an important sign and step forward for the staff in Pittsburgh an organization that cleaned house before Cheringtons arrival in large part because of its failure to help pitchers reach their full potential. 17 Jul 2023 01:13:52 RHP Mitch Keller assigned to FSL South Division All-Stars. Keller was also responsible for Pittsburgh's only other win so far in May. Access unmatched financial data, news and content in a highly-customised workflow experience on desktop, web and mobile. But when everything feels off, you cant even tinker. Why wouldnt I want to stay?, (Top photo: Gene J. Puskar / Associated Press). Its been incredible to watch @mkeller11 evolution this season starting with complete ownership going to @TreadHQ changing his pitch mix, adding a sinker, learning to adapt on the fly, confidence/conviction & designing a sweeper which U can check out below. Follow Stephen J. on Twitter @stephenjnesbitt. Training last winter with Tread Athletics, Keller rediscovered the giddy-up on his fastball. See here for a complete list of exchanges and delays. He struggled, and struggled hard. Another would be to lean into the natural movement, shift the grip and turn it into a two-seamer. Pirates pitcher Mitch Keller's new weapon is a pitch that is sweeping It has not been the same since then.. Mitch checks those boxes. pic.twitter.com/oZJgThZjP2, Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) March 15, 2023. He hit 99.5 mph. When Keller ran onto the field for the bottom of the first inning, he didnt know his luck was about to run out. All images are property the copyright holder and are displayed here for informational purposes only. Then, in his age 26 season, Keller pitched the best he'd ever . In late January 2022, amid the MLB lockout, Keller made a trip to Treads facility in Hickory, N.C., and video of his bullpen session went viral. This past week has been a significant one for Sonny Gray. But when I got hit, the ball always seemed to fall in somehow. Yet, this isnt where he expected to be as recently as six weeks ago. Some defensive statistics Copyright Sports Info Solutions, 2010-2023. I needed to get back to throwing hard because thats what made me good in the first place. Mitch Keller Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More | Baseball-Reference.com Put your baseball knowledge to the test with our new daily trivia game, Immaculate Grid. The day Keller was demoted to the bullpen, Hayes scoured Edgertronic video from recent bullpen sessions and noticed Keller was cutting his four-seamer. by Retrosheet. Build the strongest argument relying on authoritative content, attorney-editor expertise, and industry defining technology. Hayes sent Keller the video, explained what he saw and suggested hed be a good candidate for a seam-shift sinker. Keller struck out a career-high 13 in his second straight outstanding start, and the slumping Pirates won for only the second time in 13 games, 4-0 over the Baltimore Orioles on Sunday. Reuters, the news and media division of Thomson Reuters, is the worlds largest multimedia news provider, reaching billions of people worldwide every day. To a right-handed hitter, its almost starting way up and in. I think his mindset is better, manager Derek Shelton said. Kevin Gorman reports that Keller will pitch game two of today's double header against the Reds, with Cody Ponce pitching game one. I knew it was a good pitch metrically, but I had no idea it was that good, Keller said. RT @jontester: Within hours of Mitch McConnell's hand-picked candidate entering the race for Montana's Senate seat, national Republicans already had ads up to bolster his campaign. Mitch Keller takes the field for his major-league debut on May 27, 2019. Bryan Reynolds, who reached when he struck out on a wild pitch, scored on a single by Ke'Bryan Hayes. Three singles, a walk and the brain fart had produced three runs, and the Rays still had a runner on second with nobody out. I was anxious, nervous, whatever, but ready for it, Keller recalled a few days ago. Put your baseball knowledge to the test with our daily baseball trivia game. One solution would be to work to fix the four-seamer and increase its carry. They saw what he saw. In his previous start Monday, he shut out Colorado 4-0 for his first career complete game. And Keller is starting to find better command with it which is a tough aspect for a pitch that moves as much as a sweeper does throwing it to above-average locations in six of his last seven starts. Subscribe to The Athletic for in-depth coverage of your favorite players, teams, leagues and clubs. Keller, a second-round selection in the 2014 MLB Draft, flashed top-of-the-rotation stuff during his first couple of seasons, but he never put everything together. Yeah, theres a lot more confidence and just feeling good about where Im at with my delivery and well, just everything really, Keller said. A changeup for a called strike. Keller for years has been searching for an effective breaking ball to pair with his fastball and complement his curveball. Just 26 years old, Keller is the teams most experienced starter. Keller set personal bests in strikeouts (159) and ERA (3.91). July 8th, 2023. Keller analyzed his arsenal, searching for answers. That demotion was an inflection point. Pittsburgh was 20-8 after a 16-1 win at Washington on April 29. Its kind of crazy.. Thats huge because this guy is so important to us this year and down the road.. It was just his best start in months. The Dodgers last season had a lot of success with this newfangled slider. GM Ben Cherington told The Athletic the Pirates would like to keep Keller long-term, and theyre not opposed to in-season negotiations (as evidenced by the Bryan Reynolds extension), but as of now theres no news. In order to examine whether or not Keller can continue to build on his efficacy, it will be important to watch if those numbers continue to trend in positive directions. I think we saw Mitch grow into a man last year, manager Derek Shelton said. But the right-hander is using his changeup more than ever, and his sinker a pitch that wasnt even in Kellers arsenal when the season began has become his best weapon. Keller stepped off the mound, shook his head and took a couple of steps toward center field. In his June 10, 2021, home start against the Dodgers, he was yanked in the third inning he hadnt made it through four innings in half of his 12 starts as his ERA soared above 7. When Mitch Keller was taken by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the second round of 2014 MLB Amateur Draft, hopes were high. An out later, Ji Hwan Bae doubled to right-center, moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on Marcano's single to right to give Pittsburgh a 2-1 lead. Theres the Keller before: 203 innings, 6.12 ERA, And the Keller since: 176 innings, 3.07 ERA, Its fun to watch, man, says Andrew McCutchen, who was the reigning NL MVP when the Pirates drafted Keller in the second round in 2014. Win Expectancy, Run Expectancy, and Leverage Index calculations provided by Tom Tango of InsideTheBook.com, and co-author of The Book: Playing the Percentages in Baseball. The Trops video board was blaring, trying to goose the crowd of 10,500. See our ethics statement. + View Mitch Keller's Pitches in 3d Try a week on us. Its settled in as a pitch thats good for action (as measured by Stuff+, which looks at the physical characteristics of a pitch) and that he can throw for strikes, too (as measured by Location+, a pitch- and count-adjusted command metric). It always fell for a hit.. After the Devers double play, Keller surrendered a run on a seventh-inning infield single and avoided a three-run homer when replay concluded Reese McGuires fly ball had curled just to the right of Peskys Pole. During spring training, he unveiled a revamped sweeper a slurvy slider with generous horizontal break to pair with his curveball. Mitch Keller 2023 pitching Stats Per Game - MLB - ESPN Keller used to love his four-seamer. Hayes created a three-minute video of Kellers four-seamers to show other Tread instructors. A foul ball on an elevated fastball. Suddenly, Keller looked like a solid middle-of-the-rotation type pitcher. His mechanics were messy, his execution missing, his confidence blown. 2022: PIT. I went to (pitching coach) Oscar (Marin) and said, What do you think about throwing sinkers? Keller said. It was like, holy s, this is electric, Hayes said. Bad starts didnt snowball. the official stats partner of the NBA, NHL and MLB. That might be taking it to an extreme, but in those dark times, yeah, I feel like theres nothing else to do. He shakes his head, then smiles. I felt good but wasnt getting results, so something had to change, Keller recalls. I just picked it up one day and started throwing it again, Keller said. The next two seasons were a roller-coaster ride. Now its the sweeper. Keller pitched well in the truncated 2020 season, but made only five starts before suffering an injury. I dont know why I remember that, Keller says, laughing. The Pirates play at Detroit on Tuesday night, with Luis Ortiz (0-1) taking the mound for Pittsburgh against Michael Lorenzen (1-2). Keller used to love his four-seamer. He uses the slider about 5 percent of the time but chooses his spots wisely. Includes games played, hits and home runs per MLB season. You get the white of the ball on top and the seams cut through on the side so it just cuts across (the plate).. Bryse Wilson has thrown it since 2019 when he was with the Braves. Its funny, because Ive had a lot of guys, even guys on other teams, start asking about it lately.. View the full batter vs. pitching stats of Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Mitch Keller on ESPN. The cutter has effectively replaced the sinker against lefties, and using it to get in on the hands has helped the four-seamer play up. The moment Mitch found out is everything. season Team; 2019: PIT. And then being in the game being in the moment was awesome.. When things go sideways, he doesnt collapse. Instead of diving vertically, a sweeper has big horizontal break to the pitchers glove side. He planned to interview Kellers parents on the air during the game. Career . He saw his walk rate decrease and his WHIP drop drastically. Just having confidence in your stuff always helps, Keller said. When Hembree was claimed off waivers in 2021, he was told by Ian Walsh, his trainer at Driveline Baseball, to pick the brain of Reds assistant pitching coach Eric Jagers, whos sort of a sweeper Yoda. That was step one, and I got it down by going to Tread. Mitch Keller solid as Pirates get past fading Mets | Reuters My game was telling me that the fastball was getting hit because it doesnt have elite carry. Analysis: How Mitch Keller's bounce-back start Sunday showed important Here we are in late June and Kellers four-seam fastball usage is at a career-low 39 percent. Question, Comment, Feedback, or Correction? Many thanks to him. Its 95-plus mph and plays better than the 95 mph straight (four-seamer).. The Pirates havent approached Keller about a contract extension, but hes willing to discuss one. We wanted to celebrate the big day a couple innings in, Incmikoski said. But I guess it was just because I was a good pitcher.. See, as opposed to a year earlier, when Keller was out of sync and sent to the minors, he actually felt this time that he was close to breaking through. Last season, former Pirates pitcher Jeff Karstens could tell what was out of whack as he watched on television at his home in Florida while Keller lurched through a brief, brutal start. He has 1,515 hits as a member of the Pirates. I realized there are a lot more people than I thought whove really looked into this. McCutchen returns to action today as a struggling Castro is optioned. And for good reason, too, because its really hard to hit.. He struggled with release points, so his command of the sinker and slider was off. The second was a clip of the fastest pitch Hayes could find of Keller throwing: a 99 mph heater years earlier in the minors. Its a credit to him because he worked his ass off. Just a brain fart, he said with a shrug. Senzel stroked a single to score Casali and make it 6-0. Talking (to clubs) across the league, it was a very common question, Hembree said. 31. MLB Pitcher Mitch Keller Cutter Pitch Design Pen - YouTube He was healthy in 2021, but struggled so much that his future with the club was in doubt. After all, he says, these days are a lot better than the ones when he had no answers, when he was beat up by the big leagues, when he found himself contemplating his next career after baseball. View the 2023 MLB season full splits for Mitch Keller of the Pittsburgh Pirates on ESPN. Our reasoning for presenting offensive logos. Call it a sweeper, a whirlyor a Hand of God slider. Essentially, it is a sideways slider that benefits from seam-shifted wake, which gives it deceptive movement given its spin. It was like, OK, this is kind of real now, his dad says. Becomes a free agent entering the 2026 season, after the conclusion of the 2025 season. Subscribe to The Athletic for in-depth coverage of your favorite players, teams, leagues and clubs. An intangible element also played a big role in Kellers rebirth this season: confidence. It speaks to the level of the pitchers creativity. That might be the best pitching performance of the season. He got shelled. He was like, Do this. I worked on it for a couple of bullpens, and then I was in a game with it and was like, Wow! I started getting swings that I havent seen off a slider before.. Im the old one on the staff. Mitch Keller has a 2.82 ERA in four starts this month. Vanessa Keller on Twitter: "RT @jontester: Within hours of Mitch Threat neutralized. Keller punched out McGuire, took home the win and invited Hayes and his friends onto the field afterward. Mitch Keller averaged 93.8 MPH on his 4SFB last year. A lousy BABIP also can be a time bomb. Scores from any date in Major League history, Minor, Foreign, College, & Black Baseball, Frequently Asked Questions about MLB and Baseball, Subscribe to Stathead Baseball: Get your first month FREE. Lets start with what Rob Biertempfel outlined regarding the pitchers arsenal. It was just perfect enough.. Everything you could draw up to be not good happened, Keller said. Many historical player head shots courtesy of David Davis. Im going to throw harder than you, Hayes texted. Thats because hes confident his sinker-slider combination will generate lots of swing-and-miss and weak grounders. He previously wrote for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, covering the Pittsburgh Pirates before moving to an enterprise/features role. Even with the better results in the back half of last season, Keller still was handcuffed to some degree. Wilson, who works from a low three-quarters slot, said the sweeper felt natural from the start. He realized something had to change. Its got good life behind it, but these hitters are good. The next four dipped below the zone and into the dirt, so Senzel walked. Mitch Keller, Pittsburgh Pirates, SP - News, Stats, Bio Mitch Keller appears to be on the rise - Bucs Dugout David Bednar pitched the ninth for his 14th save despite giving up a one-out double to Tommy Pham. It looks a little like a curveball, but its gonna (break) late and in a hurry. First Pitch: Mitch Keller's Prospect Status - Pirates Prospects (Aaron Doster / USA Today), https://cdn.theathletic.com/app/uploads/2023/03/28102812/iglesias.mp4. Will the sweeper come and go, too, as hitters adjust? @ATTSportsNetPIT pic.twitter.com/rUH4xwhffE, Michael McKenry (@theFortMcKenry) September 27, 2022. I went to Jagers and basically told him, I need a slider, Hembree said. His .321 BABIP was the sixth-highest among all starters (minimum 150 innings pitched), but its becoming more manageable. Kellers slider had never done that before. For pitchers, their inaugural Opening Day assignment is a reward for past performance and an opportunity to show theyve reached an elite level. OK, well then thats something to build off of. Keller was strong. Jesse Winker put a 1-2 pitch in play, a line drive that found grass in center field for a single. Pittsburgh starter Mitch Keller (8-2) pitched seven innings, allowing one run and a season-low two hits, with seven strikeouts and two walks. By Rob Biertempfel Mar 29, 2023 9 PITTSBURGH When he takes the mound Thursday afternoon at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati, Pirates right-hander Mitch Keller will make his first. We were 0-2 on every at-bat, it felt like.. Pitcher AB H 2B 3B HR RBI BB K AVG OBP SLG OPS; JJ Bleday: 3: 1: 0: 0: 0: 0: 2: .333.600.333.933: Jonah Bride With this, it doesnt matter if its up or down. He was zipping the fastball, but it didnt have enough movement and became predictable. It was his first time seeing Keller start in person. Pirates pitching coach Oscar Marin had previously collaborated with Tread co-founder Ben Brewster on training programs for Holmes and a few others, so when Keller joined Tread the Pirates knew he was in good hands even if as they expected might happen a lockout cut off the clubs communication with players that offseason. Like Keller, Musgrove, who pitched for the Pirates from 2018 to 2020, uses a high release slot. What were you doing on that day?. On May 27, 2019, Keller was called up from Triple-A Indianapolis to start the second game of a doubleheader against the Reds. Becomes a free agent entering the 2026 season, after the conclusion of the 2025 season. Keller strikes out 13 as struggling Pirates beat Orioles 4-0 - USA TODAY Complete career MLB stats for the Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Mitch Keller on ESPN. June 12 - EditorsNote: 7th graf: updated to returned; Tucupita Marcano hit a go-ahead RBI single in the fourth inning and Andrew McCutchen reached 2,000 career hits as the Pittsburgh Pirates topped the visiting New York Mets 2-1 on Sunday. Over the winter, Keller lit up social media with homemade videos of his fastball touching 100 mph during workouts at his offseason home in Iowa. Kellers 41-pitch nightmare inning ended when Winker struck out. All UZR (ultimate zone rating) calculations are provided courtesy of Mitchel Lichtman. Keller came to Tread on the recommendation of a former teammate, Clay Holmes, a failed-starter-turned-reliever who had honed his devastating sinker at Tread, been traded to the Yankees and worked his way toward the back end of their bullpen. This isnt the first time weve heard of Keller toying with what is more of less an unidentifiable pitch. Undeterred, Keller returned to the rotation in late May 2022 and unleashed 34 sinkers while tossing five innings of two-run baseball against the Dodgers. Get stats, Statcast data, projections, articles, fantasy rankings, gifs and more for Mitch Keller on Pitcher List. By Stuff+, Kellers sweeper is the second-best slider among qualified starters, behind Graham Ashcraft and just ahead of Gerrit Cole and Shohei Ohtani. Tim Williams 3 Sep 2021 Two starts ago, I wrote that I Believe in Mitch Keller. Were doing good things out there.. There was the changeup craze about 10 years ago. Pitcher Sonny Gray got his third career hit, an infield single. Obviously, thats something thats important to us. [1/40]Jun 11, 2023; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; New York Mets pitcher Max Scherzer (21) warms up in the outfield before the game against the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park. With two outs, Curt Casali doubled on fan interference. (Aaron Doster / USA Today), https://cdn.theathletic.com/app/uploads/2022/09/02163253/8c0e7986-42bd-4c38-8712-d8b3a29e1a82.mp4. Jack Suwinski added a solo homer for the Pirates, who entered play having lost three of their last four games. The sinker has become a usable pitch, a way to give batters a different look and expand his arsenal. 2023 MLB Player Pitching Stat Leaders | MLB.com (Jonathan Dyer / USA Today) . All of a sudden, the first inning was a rough go. Try a week on us. From 2019 to '21, Keller owned a 6.02 ERA across 170 1/3 innings. Keller set down the next nine batters in a row and left the game after five innings without allowing another run. Just look at the thing veer left. The Orioles recalled infielder Joey Ortiz from Triple-A Norfolk and optioned left-hander Nick Vespi to Norfolk. Then back to the four-seamer, in on the hands, for a jam shot to second base that turned into an inning-ending double play. Finally exhausting prospect eligibility, Keller's rookie days are behind him. He just needed to move more efficiently. I used to let things get to me and was worried about what everyone else was thinking. Three balls in play, three hits, five runs. Not even the pouring rain could spoil Lionel Messi's Inter Miami welcome party on Sunday in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where the new face of Major League Soccer (MLS) was introduced to a packed stadium of adoring fans. Much of the play-by-play, game results, and transaction information both shown and used to create certain data sets was obtained free of charge from and is copyrighted by RetroSheet. In nine starts with Indy before his promotion, Keller went 5-0 with a 3.34 ERA and averaged 10.8 strikeouts per nine innings. Popup, fly ball, line drive, it didnt matter. The turnaround began in May, when Keller revamped his arsenal. Hes eager for the challenge and appreciates the symmetry. All logos are the trademark & property of their owners and not Sports Reference LLC. Eligibility restrictions apply. TAMPA, Fla. A balk? I would have gotten back up there and tried to throw, and stuff would have spiraled out of control.. It was a pivotal point in Fridays game at Tropicana Field. "It's nice to get it out of the way in that first at-bat.". So how can we evaluate Keller during the 2023 campaign? Its the same movement, but youre tilting it, Marin said.