Mitch Thomas Keller (born April 4, 1996) is an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

for the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB).

Amateur career

Keller was drafted by the

in the second round of the

2014 Major League Baseball draft The 2014 Major League Baseball (MLB) First-Year Player Draft was held from June 5 through June 7, 2014, to assign amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The first two rounds were conducted on June 5, followed by rounds three through ten on June ...

out of

Xavier High School A multitude of schools and universities have been named after St. Francis Xavier, a Spanish Roman Catholic saint and co-founder of the Society of Jesus. This page lists notable educational institutions named after St. Xavier, arranged by country a ...

Cedar Rapids, Iowa Cedar Rapids () is the second-largest city in Iowa, United States and is the county seat of Linn County, Iowa, Linn County. The city lies on both banks of the Cedar River (Iowa River), Cedar River, north of Iowa City, Iowa, Iowa City and north ...

. He signed with the Pirates on June 14, 2014 for a signing bonus worth $1,000,000. He had been committed to play college baseball for the

North Carolina Tar Heels The North Carolina Tar Heels are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The name Tar Heel is a nickname used to refer to individuals from the state of North Carolina, the ''Tar Heel ...

Professional career

Keller made his professional debut with the

Gulf Coast League Pirates The Florida Complex League Pirates are a Rookie-level affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates, competing in the Florida Complex League of Minor League Baseball. Prior to 2021, the team was known as the Gulf Coast League Pirates. The team plays its h ...

, where he spent all of 2014, pitching to a 1.98 ERA in innings. Keller spent 2015 with the

Bristol Pirates The Bristol Pirates were a Minor League Baseball team in Bristol, Virginia, United States. They were a Rookie-level team in the Appalachian League. The team played home games at DeVault Memorial Stadium. Opened in 1969, Devault Memorial Stadi ...

, posting a 0–3 record with a 5.49 ERA in six starts. He spent 2016 with the

West Virginia Power The Charleston Dirty Birds are an American professional baseball team based in Charleston, West Virginia. They are a member of the South Division of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, a partner league of Major League Baseball. The Dir ...

where he was 8–5 with a 2.46 ERA in 23 starts. He also pitched in one game for the

Bradenton Marauders The Bradenton Marauders are a Minor League Baseball team of the Florida State League and the Single-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates. They are located in Bradenton, Florida, and play their home games at LECOM Park, which also serves as th ...

at the end of the season. In 2017, Keller began the season with Bradenton. After going 6–3 with a 3.14 ERA in 15 starts, he was promoted to the

Altoona Curve The Altoona Curve are a Minor League Baseball team based in Altoona, Pennsylvania, named after nearby Horseshoe Curve (but also alluding to the curveball, a type of pitch). The team plays in the Eastern League and is the Double-A affiliate of the ...

in August and finished the season there with a 2–2 record and 3.12 ERA in six starts.

MLB.com MLB.com is the official site of Major League Baseball and is overseen by Major League Baseball Advanced Media, L.P. (a subsidiary of MLB). MLB.com is a source of baseball-related information, including baseball news, statistics, and sports column ...

ranked Keller as Pittsburgh's top prospect going into the 2018 season. He began the season with Altoona and was promoted to the

Indianapolis Indians The Indianapolis Indians are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates. They are located in Indianapolis, Indiana, and play their home games at Victory Field, which open ...

during the season. He also pitched in one game for Bradenton during the season. In 25 starts between the three clubs, he went 12–4 with a 3.48 ERA. The Pirates added him to their 40-man roster after the season. Keller began 2019 with Indianapolis. He was promoted to the major leagues on May 26, and he made his major league debut at

Great American Ball Park Great American Ball Park is a baseball stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio. It served as the home stadium of the Cincinnati Reds of Major League Baseball (MLB), and opened on March 31, 2003, replacing Cinergy Field (formerly Riverfront Stadium), the R ...

versus the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

, giving up six earned runs over four innings, walking two and striking out seven. He would finish the season with a 7.13 ERA over 12 starts and 48 innings pitched.
In the shortened 2020 season, Keller registered a 2.91 ERA with 16 strikeouts in innings of work over 5 starts for the Pirates.
In 2021 he went 5–11 with a 6.17 ERA and 92 strikeouts in innings. It would stand as the 3rd worst ERA among pitchers with a minimum of 100 innings pitched in 2021.
To start the 2022 season, Keller gave up a 6.61 ERA in innings of work. However, after adding a sinker to his mix, Keller would go on to throw for 3.21 ERA and 3.67 FIP across his remaining innings. Keller gave up the 703rd and final home run to Albert Pujols on October 4, 2022. In total, Keller pitched to an ERA of 3.91, striking out 138 batters, to go along with a

Wins Above Replacement Wins Above Replacement or Wins Above Replacement Player, commonly abbreviated to WAR or WARP, is a non-standardized sabermetric baseball statistic developed to sum up "a player's total contributions to his team". A player's WAR value is claimed to ...

value of 2.1 over 159 innings during the 2022 season.

Personal

Keller and his wife Clancy married in 2020. His brother, Jon Keller, played in the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. As one of the American L ...

organization.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Keller, Mitch 1996 births Living people Sportspeople from Cedar Rapids, Iowa Baseball players from Iowa Major League Baseball pitchers Pittsburgh Pirates players Gulf Coast Pirates players Bristol Pirates players West Virginia Power players Bradenton Marauders players West Virginia Black Bears players Altoona Curve players Indianapolis Indians players Glendale Desert Dogs players