Five reasons why Keller delivered a gem without his 'best stuff'

MIAMI -- Talking strictly from a peripheral standpoint, Mitch Keller probably should have been in trouble Monday. His pitch velocities were down across the board, ranging from about 1.5 mph on his fastball (his sinker averaged 93.5 mph compared to the yearly average of 94.9 mph) to over 4 mph on his slider (82 mph Monday vs. 86.2 mph on the year). That's usually a sign a pitcher just doesn't have "it" that day.

But when Keller return to loanDepot's visitor's dugout Monday, he threw out a hypothetical to pitching coach Oscar Marin and game planning and strategy coach Radley Hadded.

"I wish I had my best stuff tonight because who knows what would have happened."

Keller didn't need his "best stuff" Monday, delivering seven innings of one-run ball, leading the way to a 5-1 Pirates win over the Marlins.

It was the first time in Keller's major-league career that he pitched seven innings, allowing just five hits and striking out five. While he did plunk a batter in the first, he did not walk a Marlin all evening.

"Just kind of relieved, honestly," Keller said about going seven. "I knew I got that last out and I felt really good... I felt really good about what I had just done."

So how does a pitcher who was primarily billed and hyped for his stuff deliver arguably the best start of his major-league career on a night where he didn't have his velocity? Well, there were several keys.

1. THE NEW ATTACK PLAN

It's now been eight starts since Keller unveiled his new sinker against the Dodgers, fully adopting a two fastball approach. And while the results may not be jaw-dropping, they have been solid overall, recording a 3.86 ERA over 44 2/3 innings, averaging 5.5 frames a start.

"I think it's figuring out who I am and what plays, and just finding consistency in the zone," Keller said. "That's helped a lot."

With the sinker especially, Keller has found a way to keep hard contact on the ground. He allowed nine batted balls with an exit velocity of 95 mph or higher, which is considered to be hard contact. Five of those batted balls stayed on the ground, and while a couple went for hits, they were just singles. It minimized the damage.

"We start to see him just continue to mature," Derek Shelton said. "He's more comfortable executing his sinker, and that's really important."

2. THE RELEASE

For Keller, consistency is always going to be a focal point. Limiting the mistakes and trying to repeat his mechanics and execution.

You can see this struggle with his fastball release, having a wide range on the year of where the ball comes out of the hand:

On Monday, Keller minimized that range, releasing both fastballs from the same slot without any outliers:

"We've talked about consistency a lot with Mitch, and the fact that he's able to repeat, he was able to put the ball on the ground, [helped]," Derek Shelton said. "... The fact that he continued to execute the sinker with a consistent release point I think is vital."

3. ATTACKING EARLY

Deep counts have also been a recurring theme in Keller's starts. That starts at the first pitch. This year, 61% of plate appearances start with a strike league wide. Since 2020, Keller's percentages have been, in order, 46%, 56% and 54.1%. Throwing more first pitch balls leads to more hitters counts and walks, giving the offense an opportunity to hunt pitches in the zone.

That wasn't the case Monday, as Keller delivered 16 first pitch strikes to his 26 batters faced. The only other time he can claim to have thrown more first pitch strikes was April 20, when he started with 18.

"Just pounding the zone," Keller said. "That was the game plan from the start. Just attacking these guys and let my best stuff play in the zone and try to limit free passes."

Keller said being able to land his early-count sliders in for strikes was key to his performance. Speaking of which...

4. THE SLIDER

Six of Keller's outs on the day came via his slider, getting four batted ball outs and two punchouts with it. While he had a pretty even mix between his slider, curveball and both types of fastballs, he did go to the slider a bit more.

Even with the drop in velocity, Keller averaged a lot more spin Monday (about 2,700 RPM compared to a little over 2,500 RPM earlier this year), which resulted in seven more inches of horizontal break compared to his previous average slider. At times when he struggles, Keller's stuff is brought up as being flat. Not this time, and considering how the sinker and slider tunnel off each other, it gives him another weapon to lean on more:

5. THE CONFIDENCE

There's something to be said for taking the ball and just ripping it. That's what Keller did Monday, and it's partly why he's been on this stretch. He's feeling good between outings, during bullpens and on the mound because he's in a groove, building up his confidence.

"Like anything, when you're feeling good, it just keeps rolling," Keller said. "Trying to keep hanging on to that and doing what feels good. It's like, don't change it unless it's not working. So just keep going."

And when he's pitching with an attack mindset and throwing with his sinker and slider, you get starts like what he did Monday.

• Before the game, Jake Marisnick was activated from the 60-day injured list after being sidelined since May 9 with a thumb injury.

During that time away, he said he worked on his craft, and it showed up in his return, picking up a double, a stolen base and icing the game in the ninth with a two-run shot to left-center:

"It takes a long time to have a good year," Marisnick said about seeing immediate results after working to get back. "You got to string them together and do it for a long time to keep that feel. But definitely getting results early is great."

• Marisnick is replacing Bryan Reynolds on the major-league roster, who was placed on the 10-day injured list with a right oblique injury Monday.

"It's one of those things, especially coming up on the break, we're not going to take a chance with Bryan, especially with obliques," Shelton said. "One swing can turn a smaller period of time into a lengthy period of time."

• To make room on the 40 man roster, left-hander Cam Vieaux was designated for assignment.

Additionally, right-hander Austin Brice, who was designated for assignment last week, cleared waivers and was outrighted to Class AAA Indianapolis.

• Marisnick's homer iced the game, but it was a two-out, two-run bloop on an 0-2 Trevor Rodgers slider in to Diego Castillo in the first that got the Pirates on the board early, cashing in on an early opportunity after struggling to do so recently:

Castillo finished with a couple hits, and Kevin Newman went 3-for-5 batting out of the leadoff spot.

• Shelton turned to Yerry De Los Santos in the eighth to strand one inherited runner, and he ended up closing out the four-out save with a quiet ninth, relying heavily on the slider.

That's three saves on the season for him, an impressive total for a rookie who has looked comfortable in all of the different situations he's pitched in thus far.

"He doesn't pitch like he's 24," Shelton said. "He doesn't act like he's 24. I think the thing that was most impressive tonight is we know the sinker's the pitch. Tonight it looked like it ran away from him a little bit. It almost turned into a four-seamer at times. He was able to execute the slider tonight, which is a big step forward for him."

"It's really his temperament and knowing no moment is too big for him," catcher Jason Delay, who has caught him in both the majors and Class AAA Indianapolis, told me. "He's a calm guy. I really like catching him."

• In case you missed Chris Halicke's story Sunday, Shelton has a tradition of giving a bottle of champagne to the team's All-Star representatives. For David Bednar, though, he knew he had to hook him up with some I.C. Light.

"I will take credit for the I.C. LIght," Shelton said. "Before we left [Pittsburgh], it was Nick Cook, one of our clubbie’s birthday, so I had Donnie [bench coach Don Kelly] stop and get a 30-rack of IC Light for Nick for his birthday. I kind of assumed that Bednar was going to make the All-Star Game. I started it last year where I got a bottle of champagne for guys just to celebrate it, but I knew the yinzer in David Bednar was going to want some I.C. Lights. He carried that case of I.C. Lights very proudly last night. it was cool because I think our group really appreciates David, and that’s what David is about."

• I caught up with former Pirate catcher Jacob Stallings before the game to talk about the trade, him receiving the Gold Glove Tuesday and his relationship with Henry Davis. You can read that here.

THE ESSENTIALS

• Boxscore
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• Standings
• Statistics
• Schedule
• Scoreboard

THE HIGHLIGHTS

THE INJURIES

• 10-day injured list: OF Bryan Reynolds (right oblique)

• 15-day injured list: LHP Dillon Peters (back)

• 60-day injured list: OF Canaan Njigba-Smith (wrist), OF Greg Allen (hamstring), RHP Blake Cederlind (UCL), RHP Nick Mears (elbow surgery) RHP Max Kranick (elbow), C Roberto Pérez (hamstring)

THE LINEUPS

Shelton's card:

1. Kevin Newman, SS
2. Ke'Bryan Hayes, 3B
3. Michael Chavis, 1B
4. Daniel Vogelbach, DH
5. Diego Castillo, RF
6. Ben Gamel, LF
7. Josh VanMeter, 2B
8. Jake Marisnick, CF
9. Jason Delay, C

And for Don Mattingly's Marlins:

1. Joey Wendle, 2B
2. Garrett Cooper, DH
3. Jesús Aguilar, 1B
4. Avisaíl García, RF
5. Jesús Sanchez, CF
6. Brian Anderson, 3B
7. Bryan De La Cruz, LF
8. Miguel Rojas, SS
9. Jacob Stallings, C

THE SCHEDULE

The Pirates will start Chris Stratton (5-4, 5.14) in what will likely be a bullpen game Tuesday. Daniel Castano (1-2, 3.60) will go for the Marlins, with first pitch coming at 6:40 p.m. I've got you covered.

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