PITTSBURGH PIRATES TOP 10 PROSPECTS
1. MITCH KELLER, RHP
AGE: 24. B-T: R-R. HT: 6-2. WT: 210.
DRAFTED: HS—Cedar Rapids, Iowa, 2014 (2nd round).
SIGNED BY: Matt Bimeal.
TRACK RECORD: Keller is the latest pitching prospect to top the Pirates’ system, joining the likes of Gerrit Cole, Jameson Taillon and Tyler Glasnow in the last decade. Keller has flashed the pure stuff to be a top-of-the-rotation starter, though the Pirates haven’t gotten those results consistently from the previous group. Keller’s chances might be better. He will work with a new big league pitching coach, following the firing of Ray Searage, and likely a more updated organizational pitching philosophy. Keller made his big league debut in 2019 and has already started to abandon the Pirates’ penchant for heavy fastball usage. He ran up a 7.13 ERA over 48 innings in his debut, but in the final two months he put more emphasis on his slider and curveball and saw an uptick in strikeouts.
Velocity has been Keller’s calling card since hitting 94 mph in the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League out of high school. He has since increased that velocity to sit 94-96 with sink down in the zone and he has touched 99. He improved the control and command of his fastball after a mechanical adjustment in 2015 but has seen his control regress the last two seasons. His curveball has long looked like a plus pitch, with a sharp break out of a 12-to-6 arc that leads to strikeouts and ground balls. He added a slider last year, which is quickly looking
