ALTOONA, Pa. — On a recent late afternoon, members of the Altoona Curve were milling about their narrow clubhouse at Peoples Natural Gas Field. From a couch, Mitch Keller and a few others were taking in the end of the Pirates-Cubs game that played on a large-screen TV, one of the few luxuries of Class AA.
From the outside looking in, Wrigley Field must seem a million miles away. For most minor-leaguers, even at AA, the odds of making the big leagues are stacked against them. When they talk, they speak of the show like it's some sort of dream.
Keller isn't one of them.
When you speak to him you can't help but be struck by two things: One, he looks even younger than his 22 years. Two, he doesn't lack for confidence in himself and his ability.
I asked him what he was trying to glean from watching the Pirate game and the answer was short and to the point.
"I‘m about to be playing with them soon," Keller was telling me. "It's a lot of fun knowing that I’ll be soon playing with them."
His confidence isn't unfounded. Soon might be a stretch, but it'll be sooner rather than later. Baseball America has him ranked as the top prospect in the Pirates organization -- 12th overall -- and with good reason.
The 6-foot-3, 195-pound right hander is 8-2 this season and hasn't taken a loss in over a month (May 9). He has a 3.00 ERA with a very strong 1.19 WHIP to go along with 70 strikeouts to just 30 walks:
As good as those numbers are, it's Keller's demeanor and work ethic that stand out to Altoona manager Michael Ryan. There are great expectations for Keller, a 2014 second-round pick (64th overall), but Ryan says the young right-hander does a remarkable job in managing them.
""Sometimes, you understand how good you are and believe some of the hype but you also (have to) stay level-headed and still continue, you still have to have the work ethic," Ryan was telling me. "There’s a lot of guys that have the hype and they're big time prospects. Sometimes that backfires on them and snowballs a little bit, but knowing Mitch and the way he is, that doesn't get to him. He believes he’s very good and will continue to do that."
Keller is enjoying the best season of his four-year pro career, he says, because he's been able to locate his mid-to-high-90s fastball much more consistently.
"When I first got drafted I had no idea where the ball was going," he says. "Now I have a little bit of an idea."
But, more importantly, he's started to develop his secondary pitches to set up the fastball.
"He’s realizing he can’t just blow 96-97 (mph) by people anymore because you get to AAA, the major league, they see that every night and they can hit it," Ryan said. "The change-up is coming along good and his breaking ball, when he plants it and can throw it for strikes, he’s pretty good."
The change-up is relatively new to Keller, who added it to his repertoire last fall in Arizona after settling on a grip that worked best for him. With the pitch, he's able to take 8-9 mph off and he's grown confident in throwing it to hitters on either side of the plate.
"It keeps guys honest with my fastball," he said. "It’s going be a huge pitch up there (in MLB) because everyone can hit fastballs up there. It doesn’t matter how hard it is."
The only blemish, if there is any, on Keller's season was a stretch where he was serving up too many long balls. He's surrendered seven home runs this season, matching his total from last year split between West Virginia (Short A), Bradenton (A) and Altoona. But he hasn't allowed one in his last three starts, a stretch in which he's allowed just two earned runs.
Keller says it's been the result of trying new pitches and, well, better competition.
"Everyone’s really good," he said. "Trying to use new pitches and stuff. Kind of getting beat on them but it’s a learning experience. You learn from it and won't throw that pitch again in that count or make sure it’s down or whatever the case might be. But they’re good hitters. They’re definitely better than A-ball hitters."
Good thing for him, he won't have to worry about AA hitters for long. Bigger and better things await, but there's still some work to do before then.
"Definitely some thing things I‘m working on and and need to get better before I get to the big league but I feel like I’m really, really close," he was telling me. "Just honing in on all my pitches and everything I do out there on the mound and it’ll happen soon."
MORE ALTOONA
• Jason Martin, the outfielder acquired as part of the Gerrit Cole trade, walked a season-high three times Sunday and is batting .286 over his last 10 games, although he's struck out 11 times during that span. Martin, 22, is batting .326/.391/.529 with 12 doubles, five triples, nine home runs and 33 RBIs in 64 games with the Curve. He's now appeared in 143 Double-A games over the past two seasons, and Neal Huntington said Martin is a candidate to move up to Triple-A soon.
"We’re continuing to evaluate a number of our players," Huntington told reporters Sunday at PNC Park. "We are conservative in our placements, and we are conservative in our movements. Jason’s doing everything he can to earn that next level. We typically look to midseason. We don’t want to move a guy too quick. We also don’t want to move a guy too late. Jason’s doing a lot of very good things and is earning that conversation and that consideration.”
• Ke'Bryan Hayes returned to the lineup Friday after missing nine days as the result of a hit-by-pitch to the kneecap. Hayes, a first-round draft pick in 2015, went 1 for 12 with a solo home run this past weekend. He's slashed .274/.341/.430 in 60 games this season.
? number four on the season for @KeBryanHayes ? pic.twitter.com/FVYSi5uW1a
— Altoona Curve (@AltoonaCurve) June 23, 2018
• Bryan Reynolds, the outfielder acquired in the Andrew McCutchen trade, batted .368 with one home run and 10 RBIs over his past 10 games. Reynolds, 22, has appeared in only 22 games because of a broken hamate bone in his left hand. -- Lance Lysowski
INDIANAPOLIS (AAA)
• Shortstop Kevin Newman has hit safely in 11 consecutive games, raising his average to .307. Newman, a first-round pick in 2015, went 3 for 5 with two RBIs against Norfolk on Wednesday and ranks first in the International League with 42 runs.
• Infielder Kevin Kramer been on a tear in June, batting .312/.357/.675 with six home runs and 19 RBIs in 21 games this month. Kramer, 24, has 11 home runs and 36 RBIs with a .819 OPS this season. This is his first season in Triple-A, which makes a promotion to the majors in 2018 unlikely.
• Jung Ho Kang went 0 for 4 Sunday and is batting .235/.308/.265 in 34 at-bats with the Indians, although Kang had seven hits in 15 at-bats over a four-game span this week. -- Lysowski
Kang Klutch. #RollTribe #RingIt pic.twitter.com/Gj7a2YappP
— Indianapolis Indians (@indyindians) June 24, 2018
BRADENTON (HIGH-A)
• Oddy Nunez, a 6-foot-8 left-hander, pitched the first no-hitter in Marauders history Sunday against Fort Myers. Nunez, who signed with the Pirates in 2015, struck out six over eight innings and walked two before inclement weather cut the game short. The 21-year-old has a 3.24 ERA and 1.31 WHIP with 49 strikeouts to 27 walks in 75 innings this season.
• Right-handed starting pitcher Luis Escobar, the Pirates' No. 11 prospect according to MLB.com, threw six scoreless innings with six strikeouts and two walks against Clearwater on Wednesday. Escobar, 21, has a 4.06 ERA, 1.22 WHIP and 58 strikeouts to 31 walks in 13 games, 12 of which were starts, this season.
• Outfielder Casey Hughston, a third-round pick three years ago, continues to struggle. The 24-year-old is batting .160 with 59 strikeouts to 19 walks in 156 at-bats this season. -- Lysowski
WEST VIRGINIA (LOW A)
• Oneil Cruz, a 6-foot-7 shortstop acquired from the Dodgers in the Tony Watson trade last year, has batted .447 with 21 hits, including two home runs, and 11 RBIs over his last 11 games. Cruz is on a 12-game hitting streak and he's had three hitting streaks of at least 10 games this season. He's slashed .318/.375/.547 with 10 home runs and 44 RBIs this season.
• Outfielder Calvin Mitchell, who's had a breakout season with seven home runs and 36 RBIs for the Power, was placed on the disabled list Sunday after experiencing pain in his hip while swinging a bat Friday.
• Outfielder Lolo Sanchez had nine hits over his last 10 games, raising his average to .216 this season. Sanchez is ranked the Pirates' ninth-best prospect, according to MLB.com.
OTHERS
• Outfielder Travis Swaggerty, the Pirates' first-round pick in this year's draft, went 0 for 3 with a walk in his debut with short-season West Virginia Thursday. However, he had three hits, three runs and an RBI in the Black Bears' win over State College on Saturday.
1st professional base hit for Pirates 1st round draft pick Travis Swaggerty is a double down the RF line... he later scored in the inning. pic.twitter.com/oSXBjqSYHz
— Joe Brocato (@joebrowdtv) June 24, 2018
• Right-handed pitcher Shane Baz, the club's first-round pick last summer, threw five scoreless innings with three walks and one strikeout in his first start of the season for short-season Bristol on Thursday. Baz, 19, had a 1.69 WHIP in 10 starts for the GCL Pirates last summer. -- Lysowski
