CINCINNATI -- It was over in the first inning.
Mitch Keller made his debut for the Pirates in Game 2 of a Memorial Day doubleheader Monday night against the Reds at Great American Ball Park, and the runs followed. Lots and lots and lots of runs — six of which were Keller's doing in the Pirates' 8-1 loss.
Keller walked his first batter, Nick Senzel, then Jesse Winker singled up the gut. Keller followed those two with another walk, loading the bases with no outs. After a mound visit, Keller bounced back by striking out Derek Dietrich.
Yasiel Puig singled to drive in the Reds' first run, and then ...
Welcome to The Show, young man. That's Jose Iglesias giving Keller some nightmare fuel. There'd be one more earned run for Keller after that, courtesy of a Senzel RBI single back atop the lineup, but the damage was done.
"I was a little amped up," Keller was saying after the game in the visitor's clubhouse. "That off-speed stuff wasn’t as crisp as it usually is and as it was in the following three innings.”
Iglesias thought the changeup was crisp and delicious, but the real takeaway here is what Keller says by the end of the quote. After struggling through one of the worst debut innings imaginable, Keller pitched three shutout innings, striking out five more along the way for seven total. He retired 10 of his last 11 batters, showing considerable improvement.
But for the love of all that's holy, don't ask Clint Hurdle if that Jekyll-and-Hyde performance is viewed as good or bad.
I learned that lesson the hard way:
Hurdle laid it all out but refused to make a final judgment call, preferring the "it is what it is" approach. One horrible inning, three good innings. Don't try to make more of it than that.
Still, I wanted a little more perspective, so I snagged Jameson Taillon for a quick chat about everything Keller did:
The overarching theme here seems clear: Don't overreact. Take Keller's terrible inning and take his shutout innings, and don't look to fuse them in any way. That was a 23-year-old pitcher making his first major-league start in a unique situation, and he learned lessons, both good and bad. What matters isn't what he did, it's what he will do from here.
And that remains to be seen, but it was clear when speaking with Keller after the game the uptick in production was a direct result of his rising confidence and comfort levels as the game progressed:
THE ESSENTIALS
• Boxscore
THE GOOD
Bryan Reynolds.
There's not enough space for me to say what I want to say about him here, so I wrote more on his performance right here.
THE BAD
Keller is the low-hanging fruit here and sure, giving up six earned runs in your first professional inning is not a good look. It was genuinely tough to watch.
But the real disaster is the Pirates' need to call upon Keller before he was ready. He did come back and show what he can do. The talent is there, but it needs more time to develop. The moment got to him, which he flatly admitted, and it all played out in front of thousands at Great American Ball Park.
For the Pirates, it would've been nice to see Keller charge out of the gates at full-strength with full preparation, but that's what happens when your team is devastated by injuries, when it's shown an inability to develop talent at the minor-league level and when there are zero plans to break out the wallet to acquire a proven veteran.
THE OTHER SIDE
Let's talk about Dietrich and this:
On the mound up there is Alex McRae, who was just called up, getting a double dose of Dietrich. First, Dietrich crushes the home run, then he makes McRae feel bad about it.
The home crowd loved it, as you can imagine. But Pirates fans? Not as thrilled. Dejan Kovacevic made his thoughts clear on Dietrich the last time he pulled this stunt, which incited a brawl at PNC Park.
But me? I love this. Give me more of this. Baseball, to me, should never lose the fun and the bravado. Did that get your heart pumping? Did it make you feel an elevated level of something — be it joy, anger or disgust?
If so, Dietrich did his job. Don't want it to happen? Pitch better.
Oh, and Puig followed that up with a solo blast of his own on the very next pitch, followed by an animated sprint around the bases. If Dietrich's antics played even a small part in rattling McRae a little more than usual and causing him to serve up the meatball to Puig, that just reinforces my feelings on the matter.
THE DATA
• This marked the Pirates' first Memorial Day doubleheader since 1976, when they played the Mets at Shea Stadium. Their last doubleheader in Cincinnati came Sept. 17, 2016.
• The Pirates have used 43 different players this year. Last year, they used 48 — over the entire season. They have sent 22 players to the IL this season. That's the most by any team in at least 20 years, per the Elias Sports Bureau.
• With his solo home run in Game 1, Bell has now hit 11 dingers in May. That's the second most in Pirates' history for the month of May, trailing Jason Bay's 12 in 2006. Only Bell, Bay, Brian Giles (10), Willie Stargell (10), Bob Skinner (10), Frank Thomas (10) and Ralph Kiner (10) have reached double digits in the month.
• McRae got his first big-league hit in Game 2, a single in the seventh inning.
• Bell started his 51st and 52nd games in the cleanup spot. The last Pirates player to make 50+ consecutive starts at No. 4 in the batting order to open a season? Bobby Bonilla, who tallied 59 straight in 1991.
THE INJURIES
• Francisco Cervelli, catcher, was placed on the seven-day concussion-injury list Sunday after being hit in the head Saturday by a broken bat.
• Corey Dickerson, outfielder, was moved to the 60-day IL with a strained right shoulder. He is on a rehab assignment with Class AAA Indianapolis and went 1-for-5 with three strikeouts and a run today in an 8-3 win against the Columbus Clippers.
• Keone Kela, right-hander, is on the 10-day IL with right shoulder inflammation and is on a rehab assignment with the Indians. He allowed three runs on three hits Saturday, throwing 19 pitches (11 strikes) in a start there. He was seen in the locker room with the team in Cincinnati, though he was not officially activated.
• Trevor Williams, right-hander, is on the 10-day IL with a right side strain.
• Jameson Taillon, right-hander, is on the 60-day IL with a strained right-forearm flexor tendon.
• Jung Ho Kang, third baseman, is on the 10-day IL with a strained left side. He went 2-for-3 with a home run for the Indianapolis Indians on Monday.
• Chris Stratton, right-hander, is on the 10-day IL with a strained right side.
• Erik Gonzalez, shortstop, is on the 60-day IL with a fractured right clavicle. He's still not doing baseball activities.
• Lonnie Chisenhall, outfielder, is on the 60-day IL with a broken right hand but now has recurring calf tightness and, additionally, is taking a break from the team on personal leave.
• Nick Burdi, relief pitcher, is on the 60-day IL with right elbow/biceps pain caused by a nerve problem.
THE SCHEDULE
The Pirates return to action tomorrow at 6:40 p.m. here in Cincinnati. I'll have all the coverage on that one, starting with the opening of the clubhouse at 4:15 p.m. and carrying through the game and postgame interviews.
THE COVERAGE
All our expanded baseball coverage, including Indy Watch by Matt Welch, Altoona Watch by Jarrod Prugar, and Mound Visit by Jason Rollison, can be found on our team page.
