After anchoring Pirates’ starting rotation, Mitch Keller concentrates on contract, workload
Mitch Keller spent his first five seasons in the major leagues working to fulfill his potential as a staff ace for the Pittsburgh Pirates, only to realize that he was the last man standing among their starting pitchers.
After posting career highs with 13 wins in 194⅓ innings over 32 starts and 210 strikeouts — a club record for a right-hander — Keller was stunned to learn that Johan Oviedo had opted for Tommy John surgery.
Oviedo was the only other Pirates pitcher to finish the season by making 32 starts and log more than 100 innings, so learning that they would be losing another workhorse was a crushing blow.
“Definitely sucks, man,” Keller said Friday night during PiratesFest at David L. Lawrence Convention Center. “I had no idea. … Like I knew, me and him, being the two starters going the last month of the season, I knew everyone has nagging stuff here and there, but I didn’t really know he was going through anything like that. I don’t think he really knew because he was still pitching fine. He was actually pitching really well in some starts.
“I had no idea, so when I found out, I was shocked. My immediate thought was like, ‘Dang, that’s 160 or so innings. That’s a lot of innings that we need to cover.’ My heart breaks for him. He was coming off a really good year. I was super excited to see where he was going to go next year.”
Addressing their starting rotation has been an offseason priority for the Pirates, even if progress has been slow. They acquired one veteran left-hander Marco Gonzales from the Atlanta Braves in a trade last month, then signed another in free agent Martin Perez to a one-year, $8 million contract.
“Signing Martin and Marco, I was really happy with those,” Keller said. “I already texted Marco. I’m excited to meet him. I’ve heard really good things from the guys who have played with him. Just excited that opportunity to be with him and excited to see who else or what else we have coming.”
Pirates general manager Ben Cherington isn’t finished. He is searching for more pitching through free agency or trades and said during an Ask Pirates Management Q&A session on Saturday at PiratesFest that the team is “actively focused on continuing to add to our starting rotation.”
Where Keller’s spot is solidified, one of the major issues will be his contract status. After earning $2,437,500 last season, Keller is projected to command $6 million next season as he enters his second year of arbitration.
That’s when the Pirates in the recent past have traded starting pitchers, from Gerrit Cole to Joe Musgrove to Jameson Taillon. They don’t have that luxury with Keller, given the state of their starting rotation and their stated desire to be a playoff contender this summer.
Last year, Keller turned down what was viewed as a lowball offer, but the Pirates put an exorbitant price tag on him at the trade deadline and opted to keep him. Keller has been steadfast in saying he’s open to signing a long-term deal with the team that drafted him in the second round in 2014, but a strong season increased his market value.
“We haven’t talked anything this offseason,” Keller said. “I would assume it would kind of be — if there was anything — like last year, where we get through arbitration, then probably start talking. I would love to start talking, but I have no idea what they plan. It would probably be around spring training again like it was last year.”
Keller’s ascension to All-Star and staff anchor last season is a primary reason the Pirates are focusing on mid-tier starters. He went 9-4 with a 3.31 ERA and 1.12 WHIP in the first half, serving as the stopper to a seven-game losing streak and following his first career complete game victory by striking out a career-best 13 at Baltimore.
But Keller sputtered after the All-Star break by going 0-4 with a 6.28 ERA and 1.61 WHIP in July before winning four of his final six decisions over the last two months.
“Obviously a really good first half,” Keller said. “A bumpy road midway in there in some parts of the second half. But overall, really good. There are a lot of really good takeaways. A lot of positive things to build on. Not really hanging up on the negative stuff. But learning from that stuff, trying to keep growing and getting better.”
The success allowed Keller to relax this offseason. He and his wife took a trip to Ireland, and the Cedar Rapids native is an Iowa football season ticket holder who spent the fall rooting for the Hawkeyes.
With a six-pitch mix that leaned mostly on his four-seam fastball, cutter, sinker and sweeper, Keller has spent this offseason working on refining his repertoire instead of working on pitch designs. Now that Keller showed he can be a staff ace and workhorse, he has a better idea of what it takes to prepare to start every five days and how to recover.
“Even all the way up through the minor leagues, it’s kind of how it was,” Keller said. “They would have to shut me down, which was kind of cool. My goal was 200 (innings), so hopefully next year I can get there. Previous year I think I threw 160 or something (159). Hopefully, over 200 for next year if things go how I expect them to go.
“That’s my job, to go as many innings as possible. When you’re at the end of the year and you look back at that kind of workload, it makes you really happy. Strive for the same thing to keep building for next year.”
