Pittsburgh Pirates Boast Strong Farm System According to FanGraphs

#34 – Pitcher Mitch Keller 

Mitch Keller is technically still a prospect, even though he pitched 48 innings in the Majors last season for the Pirates. Ranked as the 34th prospect on the BOARD’s top 100, Keller is by far the Pirates’ best pitching prospect. Keller had one of the most unfortunate stretch of 48 innings I have ever seen for a pitcher, posting a 7.13 ERA and a 3.19 FIP, he was snake bitten by the third highest batting average on balls in play in MLB history of .475. With a minor league career 3.12 ERA, Keller projects to be much closer to his 2019 FIP than his 2019 ERA.

A four pitch power pitcher, Keller looks like he could occupy a spot in the top of the Pirates’ rotation for many years to come. Keller possesses a mid-90s fastball, an average changeup, and an above average slider and curveball. His effective use of three off-speed pitches has led to a career 9.4 strikeouts per 9 innings, which should hold up nicely in the majors. The only complaint against Keller’s stuff is the lack of movement on his fastball. From my (very untrained) eye-test alone, Keller’s fastball isn’t good enough to miss bats at the Big League level. While Keller has a lot of power behind his fastball, its lack of movement makes it necessary for Keller to maintain his stellar pitch-location command as he continues his career.

Keller will start the 2020 season in the rotation for the Pirates, and hopefully will continue to do so in future seasons. The best case scenario for Keller is that he locks down one of the top two rotation spots as the Pirates rebuild, which he certainly has the potential to do. If he is able to be an anchor for the rotation, the Pirates will find themselves in contention sooner rather than later since the top of the rotation continues to be a weak spot for the organization.