CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- As of Sunday, 10 players have made their major-league debuts with the Pirates this season.
Of those 10, six are pitchers. That hits home for Mitch Keller, who has been having a banner year for the Pirates' Low-A affiliate, the West Virginia Power, who sat at 17-19 in the second half standings entering the week.
It makes no difference to Keller that he currently still has to go through High-A, Double-A and Triple-A before reaching the majors. In fact, throw those classes out the window. Keller has his eyes, his heart and his arm set on the majors simply for the same reason our parents told us not to do things: All of his friends are doing it.
During spring training and fall camps, Keller has spent his fair share of time around pitchers like Tyler Glasnow, Jameson Taillon and Chad Kuhl, all starters who have made their MLB debuts this season and have been in the Pirates' system since being drafted.
"It's just about getting to know people," Keller told me following the team's win over Delmarva on Sunday. "Everyone in the Pirates organization is just really close. That's something really special that we have."
Power manager Brian Esposito has been in the Pirates organization since 2013, so he too has seen players like Tallion and Kuhl and even Steven Brault come up through the system and go on to the major leagues. And he echoed Keller's sentiment, adding that what the Pirates have from top to bottom doesn't come around very often.
"Guys of that status who are on the brink of the big leagues are willing to spend time with our young guys and talk to them and have real friendships, that's awesome," Esposito said. "They've been through it and they can talk about stuff that they've done. It's just great when a young kid has those connections. It gives guys confidence and gives guys hope that guys who were once in their shoes has broken the barrier and made it to the big leagues."
When Keller came to the Pirates organization, he was a wide-eyed high schooler from Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He was drafted in the second round in 2014 and has since worked his way into the upper branch of top Pirates pitching prospects for the coming years.
In his first professional year, he pitched nine games with the Pirates' rookie team in the Gulf Coast League, posting a 1.98 ERA in eight starts. A year later, he was derailed by a forearm injury during extended spring training with the Applachian League's Bristol Pirates. He pitched in just six games, accumulating a 5.49 ERA and an 0-3 record before being shut down after an Aug. 31 start.
So, he took his time off and then came back in the fall ready to get to work with that same group of guys, the Tallions, the Glasnows, the Kuhls.
"Coming back from that was kind of tough, because you don't want to re-injure it," he said. "So, I was tentative about it. Just hanging out with guys like Jameson Taillon and Chad, they don't say much and we don't talk much about baseball. But the tips and things we do talk about ... they're just leaders. You just watch them do their thing and how they prepare for the game and how they go about their business. It's just fun to watch."
This year, Keller has been "healthy since Day 1," and it's shown. He has a 6-5 record with a 2.86 ERA in 18 starts. He's struck out 100 batters, has allowed an average of just .214 against him and owns a 0.92 WHIP.
"It's been really easy for me to just do what I know how to do and carry that throughout the season," he said.
The evidence that Keller could end up like his buddies and make his way to the majors was evident at the start of this season. He struck out 10 in two of his first three starts, allowing zero earned runs over that span.
"He went through some growing pains and things like that, but he's done a real nice job for us this year," Esposito said of Keller. "He's a competitor. ... He's got a good fastball and his changeup development is coming along as well. He knows how to use that changeup as a weapon and his breaking ball is sharp. He's a young kid who is learning how to put that package together."
It doesn't matter much to Keller that he's stuck working his way through the ranks. Actually, he said he likes that.
He knows that there's things that he needs to continue to work on before he gets to the point where he's making his major-league debut. But he believes his biggest advantage has been learning how to think like a pro, something he picked up from those now-big leaguers.
"It's the same mentality, wherever you go," Keller said. "It's just different hitters. Down here, it's more of a developmental league, but we're still competing every pitch, every inning. They're just more polished than I am. I'll get there one day. I've been with those guys, so it's really cool to see them make their debuts. They're who I want to be one day."
MAKING THE JUMP
Speaking of making debuts, when Max Moroff made his MLB debut with the Pirates on Sunday, Esposito and his staff just happened to be walking into the dugout.
The crew gathered around the TV in Esposito's office to watch Moroff, who played for the Power in Esposito's first year, pinch hit in the eighth inning of the Pirates' game with Milwaukee.
"It's great," Esposito said. "These guys love coming in and seeing that. You pour a lot of heart into it. You have some tough conversations with those kids over the years. From a family standpoint, when you see a guy like that reach the big leagues, it's fun when you get to sit back and watch that."
The Power use the back wall of their press box to honor past players who have since gone on to the majors. The coaching staff will use Moroff as another success story, Esposito said.
"We talk about the next man up. A lot of guys won't go from where we are right now to the big leagues, but it gives (the current players) the confidence and energy that they need. Max didn't have a whole lot of success here, but he's trusted the process and learned the importance of the small details. He believed, and it paid off for him."
POWER FIGURES
Here are some team leaders for the Power, as of Monday afternoon:
Batting Average: Daniel Arribas, .267
Home Runs: Arribas, 10
Runs Batted in: Carlos Munoz, 50
Wins: Logan Sendelbach, eight
Strikeouts: Keller, 100
ERA: Julio Eusebio, 1.13 in 39.2 innings pitched
BLACK BEARS UPDATE
The Class A Short Season West Virginia Black Bears enter August with a 20-22 overall record. Here's some team leaders, as of Monday afternoon:
Batting Average: Kevin Mahala, .304
Home Runs: Hunter Owen, five
Runs Batted in: Owen: 24
Wins: James Marvel, Danny Beddes, Luis Escobar, three each
Strikeouts: Marvel, 31
ERA: Brandon Bingel, 0.53 in 17 relief innings pitched; Beddes, 2.39 in six starts
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