Mitch Keller named AFL Pitcher of the Week

The Pittsburgh Pirates’ top pitching prospect has earned an award for his performance in the Arizona Fall League

21-year-old right-handed pitcher Mitch Keller is the Pittsburgh Pirates’ top pitching prospect. This fall, he is pitching for the Glendale Desert Dogs in the Arizona Fall League. After having a dominant season at Double-A in 2017, this fall Keller has picked up where left off at.

This past week Mitch Keller’s success was rewarded with him being named the Arizona Fall League Pitcher of the Week. In his lone start of the week he pitched five innings of one-hit shutout baseball. He did not walk a batter in the start while striking out a pair.

So far this fall Mitch Keller has pitched 15 2/3 innings in four starts. He has allowed eight hits, four walks, one home run, and he has struck out ten. Keller has also limited opposing batters to just a .151 batting average against him.

At Double-A this season, Keller averaged 11.68 K/9, 2.86 BB/9, and 0.52 HR/9 in 34 2/3 innings pitched. He owned a 3.12 ERA and a 2.50 FIP in his six Double-A starts.

Before being promoted to Double-A, Keller owned a 3.14 ERA and a 3.54 FIP in 15 starts (77 1/3 innings pitched) at High-A. He averaged 7.55 K/9, 2.33 BB/9, and 0.58 HR/9 at High-A.

On top of being the Pirates’ top pitching prospect, Mitch Keller is one of the top prospects in all of baseball. Keller ranks as the 18th best prospect in baseball according to MLBPipeline.com, he is ranked 22nd by Baseball America, and he is ranked 27th by Baseball Prospectus.

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Mitch Keller will most likely start the 2018 season with Double-A Altoona. He should not be in Altoona long, though. Look for Keller to reach Triple-A Indianapolis by early June at the latest and for him to have a chance at earning a late summer/September call-up from the Pirates. Keller should then become a Pirate rotation anchor starting in 2019.