No, it’s not time to panic about Mitch Keller.
Not until these problems turn up in a regular season game.
Sunday’s performance in the Pirates' 2-1 victory over the Orioles in Sarasota, Fla., was yet another wild outing for the 24-year-old right-hander. While he only allowed one hit and didn’t let anyone touch home, he walked four over three innings. In 11 1/3 Grapefruit League innings, he has walked eight and allowed 16 runs.
No, it’s not the spring you want to see from the de facto ace of a torn-down rotation. But in the same way that Kevin Newman’s .700-something batting average doesn’t matter, you can't put too much stock in poor results.
What you should be looking at is his stuff and approach.
Keller’s fastball has been sitting in the high-90s and his breaking pitches are spinning. This isn’t like his first start from last season, where he was throwing 93 mph and barely escaping innings in St. Louis. His stuff has played up.
Many of his misses with the fastball have been high, something that he didn’t do as much in the minors. So yes, he’s not hitting his targets as often as he should, but spring is the time for a pitcher to find their release point and shore up their mechanics. Keller will still need to figure out some things mechanically in the regular season, but then again, so do most pitchers.
Yes, Keller was a bit wild in his final starts of last year, but to say he has “control problems” because of a handful of outings after he came back from the injured list and a bad spring is an overreaction. I think people forget that he is still 24 and is still figuring some things out on the mound. That’s OK.
YOUR TURN: How concerned are you about Keller heading into 2021, and what are you expecting out of him this season?