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Mitch Keller

Pirates Option Mitch Keller, Place Trevor Cahill On 10-Day Injured List

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Mitch Keller has been optioned to Triple-A, per Kevin Gorman of the Tribune-Review (via Twitter). Trevor Cahill has also been placed on the injured list with a left calf injury.

This is a disappointing, if potentially short-term development for the Pirates’ young right-hander. Keller is still just 25-years-old, but he’s had a rough go of it on the hill in 2021. In 12 starts, Keller has been tagged for a 7.04 ERA across 47 1/3 innings. A 4.95 FIP and .355 BABIP points to some bad luck for Keller this season. He has a 22.4 percent strikeout rate and 12.7 percent walk rate, and while both numbers are below-average, they do represent an improvement over his 2020 output.

Per Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, manager Derek Shelton said, “Mitch Keller is going to be a good major league pitcher. When young players, young pitchers have struggles, it’s our job to come up with a program and a plan to help them get back to this level and be successful at this level. That’s what we’re doing with Mitch.”

Cahill has similarly been dealt some hard luck as the veteran has posted a 6.57 ERA, but just 4.04 FIP across 37 innings. In the short term, Wil Crowe will step into Cahill’s spot in the rotation. The former Nationals’ farmhand has eight appearances on the season (seven starts) with a 7.26 ERA/6.12 FIP across 31 innings.

Geoff Hartlieb has also been recalled, notes John Dreker of Piratesbaseball.com. The 27-year-old has just one appearance this season, though he posted a 3.63 ERA in 22 1/3 innings of work last season.

Pirates Notes: Stallings, Hayes, Moran, Polanco, Keller

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Pirates catcher Jacob Stallings left this afternoon’s game against the Giants in the seventh inning after being struck by a Buster Posey foul tip. The Pirates announced he’s dealing with a left quad contusion (via Mike Persak of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette). He was replaced by Michael Pérez. Stallings has rather quietly gotten off to a very good start to the season, hitting .257/.370/.446 over his first 119 plate appearances. Stallings and Pérez are the only backstops on Pittsburgh’s 40-man, so the team would need to make a roster move if the 31-year-old is forced to miss time. The Pirates have a pair of former big leaguers, Andrew Susac and Joe Hudson, splitting time at the position with Triple-A Indianapolis.

More out of Pittsburgh:

  • The organization is hopeful third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes will be ready to embark on a minor league rehab assignment within the next several days, general manager Ben Cherington said on 93.7 FM The Fan (h/t to Kevin Gorman of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review). One of the sport’s top prospects and a popular preseason pick to win the NL Rookie of the Year Award, Hayes has been limited to seven plate appearances this season by a wrist injury. He isn’t eligible to return from the 60-day IL until June 3. The 24-year-old got off to an incredible start to his big league career last season, hitting .376/.442/.682 over his first 95 plate appearances.
  • Cherington also noted that there’s some hope each of Colin Moran and Phillip Evans can return from the injured list without needing to embark on rehab assignments (via Gorman). Moran went down last week with a left groin injury, halting a strong .297/.352/.468 start to the year. Evans began the season blistering hot but quickly cooled off. He went on the shelf earlier this week with a hamstring strain.
  • Corner outfielder Gregory Polanco and starter Mitch Keller will continue to get opportunities despite disappointing starts to the season, writes Rob Biertempfel of the Athletic. Coming off back-to-back down years, Polanco has managed just a .206/.284/.351 line over 109 plate appearances to start 2021. Those struggles make it highly unlikely the Pirates will wind up exercising their $12.5MM option on Polanco for next season, and it’s difficult to imagine the rebuilding club will find much of a market for him at the trade deadline. Nevertheless, Cherington pointed to Polanco’s somewhat promising batted ball metrics (including an 80th percentile hard hit rate) as reason for continuing to hope for a bounce back. Keller has been up and down over his first three MLB seasons, but it’s not particularly surprising the Pirates plan to give the 25-year-old time to work through his struggles given his prospect pedigree and mid-90’s velocity.

Pirates To Activate Mitch Keller From Injured List

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The Pirates are set to activate right-hander Mitch Keller from the injured list in advance of tomorrow’s doubleheader against the Reds, manager Derek Shelton told reporters (including Adam Berry of MLB.com). He’ll get the start for one of those games.

The 14-29 Pirates have long been buried in the National League’s postseason field. Nevertheless, it’ll be nice to get a handful of starts from Keller down the stretch, as the 24-year-old is a critical part of the organization’s future. The former top prospect only has a 6.63 ERA in his first 55.2 MLB innings, but his 3.77 FIP hints at the mid-rotation upside for which he’s long been lauded.

While Keller entered 2020 looking like a potential breakout candidate, he’s been limited to just two starts by left side discomfort. Out since August 2, he’s now seemingly in line for three more starts to stake a claim to a spot in Pittsburgh’s 2021 rotation. There should be ample opportunity for Keller to pitch himself back into that mix. Joe Musgrove profiles as one of the league’s more likely trade candidates this offseason, while Chris Archer is a good bet to be cut loose on the heels of thoracic outlet surgery. Trevor Williams has struggled, while Chad Kuhl’s solid 3.38 ERA comes with much shakier peripherals.

NL Injury Notes: Pham, Smyly, Turner, Pirates

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Padres outfielder Tommy Pham is less than a month out from a broken hamate bone, but he’s making rapid progress. Pham resumed live on-field batting practice today, Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports on Twitter. The 32-year-old had been off to a sluggish start to the year but will still have some time to make his presence felt as the Pads try to angle for postseason position.

More injury updates from the National League …

  • The Giants are preparing to welcome back southpaw Drew Smyly tomorrow, manager Gabe Kapler tells reporters including John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle (via Twitter). It’ll be interesting to see what the veteran hurler can deliver down the stretch. Though he hasn’t been available for many innings, he turned in a few interesting outings that hinted at a resurgence.
  • While there’s little reason to rush, the Dodgers are close to activating rehabbing third baseman Justin Turner. Manager Dave Roberts told reporters including Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register (Twitter link) that Turner still hasn’t put his tender hamstring through the full paces. Nevertheless, the club expects to have him active within the week, though Turner could initially function as a DH.
  • The Pirates provided a few pitching rehab updates, some more promising than others (via MLB.com’s Adam Berry, on Twitter). Mitch Keller (side injury) and Jameson Taillon (Tommy John) are each throwing sim games, while reliever Keone Kela is now participating in mound work. It’s still unclear how much MLB action each of those hurlers will be capable of late this year, but that’s generally encouraging news. The situation is different for fellow righty Yacksel Rios, who remains sidelined by shoulder woes. He was shut down after symptoms flared up.

Pirates Place Mitch Keller, Michael Feliz On 10-Day Injured List

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The Pirates placed right-handers Mitch Keller and Michael Feliz on the 10-day injured list, the club announced.  Keller is dealing with left side discomfort while Feliz is suffering from right forearm discomfort.  Right-hander Cody Ponce and southpaw Sam Howard were called up to fill the two spots on the 30-man active roster.

Keller and Feliz both left the Pirates’ 4-3 loss to the Cubs on Saturday.  Keller tossed 2 2/3 innings before bouncing a pitch to Willson Contreras and promptly asked for a trainer visit to the mound before leaving the game.  Feliz also made an immediate departure in the eighth inning, following a pitch to Jason Heyward.

Keller’s injury hints at a possible oblique strain, and even minor oblique problems have been known to sideline players for at least a couple of weeks.  If the strain ends up being more severe, Keller’s entire season could possibly be in jeopardy.  Feliz’s issue is perhaps even more ominous considering how forearm injuries can sometimes lead to Tommy John surgery, though he doesn’t have a past history of forearm or elbow issues.

Losing the two pitchers is a big hit to a Pirates team that is already short on reliable pitching options.  In the bigger picture, Keller’s injury might also present a significant setback to one of the team’s top young assets, as Keller has been a consensus top-100 prospect for the last four years.  He didn’t impress in his first Major League action last season (a 7.13 ERA over 48 innings), though the 24-year-old was still slated to be a major part of Pittsburgh’s rotation plans both in the present and in the future.

Feliz may still be best known for being part of the four-player package sent to the Pirates from the Astros in the January 2018 Gerrit Cole trade, though the righty quietly delivered some solid bottom-line numbers in 2019.  Feliz posted a 3.99 ERA, 2.70 K/BB rate, and an 11.7 K/9 over 56 1/3 innings, having some problems with home runs (1.8 HR/9) but also limiting opposing batters to just a 29.2% hard-hit ball rate.

Both Ponce and Howard will be making their debuts on the Pirates’ roster.  Howard posted a 5.87 ERA over 23 innings with the Rockies in 2018-19 before being claimed off waivers during the offseason.  He moved exclusively to relief pitching in 2019 after mostly working as a starter in his five previous pro seasons in Colorado’s farm system, and Howard has also displayed some reverse-splits tendencies over his career.

In Ponce’s case, this will be his first time in the big leagues.  A second-round pick for the Brewers in the 2015 draft, Ponce came to Pittsburgh as the return for Jordan Lyles last July, and Ponce owns a 3.83 ERA, 3.36 K/BB rate, and 8.0 K/9 over 418 2/3 minor league innings.  He has worked as both a starter and reliever in the minors, so Ponce could potentially get some rotation work for the Bucs either as a proper starter or as part of a piggyback system.

On Pirates’ Recent Moves

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The Pirates’ GM Ben Cherington emerged from his new office this week with the first batch of transactions since he took over in Pittsburgh. The Starling Marte trade to Arizona was the headline-grabbiest of the bunch, wherein Cherington added two high-ceiling, but far-away prospects to Pittsburgh system.

A flurry of low-key pickups followed for Cherington as the Pirates bought  in bulk: Charlie Tilson, Andrew Susac, JT Riddle, Robbie Erlin and Derek Holland signed minor league deals this week. Cherington gives Erlin a decent shot of joining the bullpen, which is otherwise without a lefty except for rotation candidate Steven Brault, per The Athletic’s Rob Biertempfel.

Holland, too, could end up in the bullpen, but like Brault, he’ll be given a shot at the rotation. Holland’s glory days as a Texas Ranger are long in the rearview, but his 2018 with the Giants at least gives the perception of a raised ceiling for Holland after otherwise forgettable stints with each Chicago team. It was just two seasons ago that Holland put up 171 1/3 innings with an impressive 3.57 ERA/3.87 FIP across 36 games for the Giants.

Holland’s shoe game remained on-point in 2019, but he struggled on the hill, both for the Giants and then for the Cubs. He only got 7 turns through the rotation to start the season, but 26 earned runs in 34 1/3 innings earned a demotion to the bullpen, where he stayed until the deadline trade to the Cubs. The Cubs relied on him as a lefty reliever out of the pen, but he struggled there, too, marking a 10.50 ERA in September, contributing to the Cubs’ tailspin.

Still, he’ll come into camp representing a veteran floor for the Pittsburgh rotation as Brault and Mitch Keller try to earn their spot. If the young Pirate arms aren’t ready to take the ball every five days, Holland could find himself back in a big league rotation in 2020.

Injury Notes: Dyson, Cueto, Polanco, Dominguez, Morejon

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The Twins are waiting to see how reliever Sam Dyson responds to some time off to deal with recurring biceps soreness. Chief baseball officer Derek Falvey discussed the matter with reporters including Phil Miller of the Star Tribune (Twitter link). It’s an effort to “get out ahead” of things, says Falvey. The Twins need their most significant trade deadline acquisition at top form with a major postseason clash beckoning. Unfortunately, he hasn’t been himself since coming over. Dyson owns a 7.15 ERA in a dozen appearances in Minnesota.

More injury updates from around the game …

  • Giants right-hander Johnny Cueto, on the mend from 2018 Tommy John surgery, experienced a setback in his most recent rehab outing, tweets Kerry Crowley of the San Jose Mercury News. He’ll be reevaluated in the next few days but won’t be an option for the team as soon as originally hoped. Manager Bruce Bochy had previously put a tentative date of Sept. 8 on a return for Cueto, but that no longer appears to be a plausible timeline. Back tightness, rather than arm issues, has caused the revised timeline. While there’s still hope that Cueto will make it back to the big-league bump this season, the organization will surely avoid any unnecessary risks.
  • A few Pirates outfielders won’t return to action this year, as Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports (Twitter links). Gregory Polanco will receive platelet-rich plasma injections in a bid to spur healing in his troublesome shoulder. That’ll be a key situation to monitor in the offseason for the Pittsburgh organization. Jason Martin now has his own shoulder malady to deal with: a separation suffered yesterday. He’s expected to miss the rest of the year. Infielder Kevin Kramer will come up to the active roster due in part to Martin’s absence. Though Bucs righty Mitch Keller was hit in the wrist with a batted ball yesterday, he was able to play catch today. his timeline isn’t clear, but that certainly seems like promising news.
  • The Phillies got some promising news on righty reliever Seranthony Dominguez, who has at times seemed destined to miss the rest of the season. Despite a recent scare, he has shown enough progress in his elbow health to resume throwing, manager Gabe Kapler told reporters including Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philly (via tweet). It’s still not clear that Dominguez will have enough time to ramp up and return to active duty, though perhaps there’s still an outside shot.
  • Padres southpaw Adrian Morejon will not make it back to the bigs in 2019, Dennis Lin of The Athletic tweets. That’s not to say that the widely hailed 20-year-old isn’t making progress. His injured shoulder is in good enough shape to allow Morejon to resume throwing. Though he struggled quite a bit in limited MLB action, Morejon has generally shown all the skills that made him a consensus top-100 leaguewide prospect. He’ll likely again factor into the San Diego plans next season, though he’ll do so without much of an innings base to work from. Morejon has not yet thrown more than 65 1/3 frames in a given campaign and fell shy of that mark this year.

NL Notes: D-Backs/Greinke, Keller/Rodriguez, Cards, Nats

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Zach Buchanan of The Athletic recently took an interesting look at the Diamondbacks’ recently concluded experience with big-money starter Zack Greinke. While you’ll want to read the entire piece (subscription link), a few comments from team president Derrick Hall are worth highlighting here in particular. “If you’re going to make that kind of commitment, you have to be sure that it’s going to push you over the top,” said Hall of the Greinke signing. “That was clearly a lesson learned.” Though the contract didn’t exactly sink the club — Greinke generally performed to his pay grade and the Snakes were able to get some value out of the tail end — it did make it difficult for the organization to put together a complete roster that was truly competitive and surely shaped the team’s decisionmaking when it came to retaining (or not) core talent. Hall did not rule out any major future splashes, but did suggest a somewhat different strategy is likelier going forward. The Arizona org will “probably prefer spreading and balancing out those salaries more evenly,” he says, thus “making sure you have that flexibility so that, when the time comes, if you want to add more significantly, you can.”

Let’s catch up on a few notes from around the National League …

  • The Pirates welcomed prized righty Mitch Keller back to the big leagues yesterday. It was a long-anticipated return after a rough showing in his initial promotion earlier this year. Keller was effective through five innings, allowing one earned run on five hits while recording four strikeouts and a pair of walks. He is now in line to get a full trial down the stretch. Before the game, the team created roster space by placing reliever Richard Rodriguez on the 10-day injured list. Rodriguez is said to be dealing with shoulder inflammation. The 29-year-old has certainly not been in top form this year, turning south after a breakout 2018 showing. While his velocity has held steady, his swinging-strike rate has plummeted from 13.8% to 9.6%. Though Rodriguez has maintained a solid 3.72 ERA, it has come in spite of his poor peripherals (7.6 K/9, 3.5 BB/9, 1.9 HR/9).
  • The Cardinals announced yesterday that they have relieved assistant hitting coach Mark Budaska of his duties. He’ll be replaced by Jobel Jimenez, who had served as the club’s Triple-A hitting coach prior to his promotion. Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Twitter link) interprets the decision as one that “underscores [the] commitment to hitting coach Jeff Albert.” Indeed, the organization is working to spread Albert’s “comprehensive offensive strategy throughout [its] system.” Albert, who has spent time in the Cardinals and Astros organizations prior to taking on the current role in the fall of 2018, discussed his philosophies with David Laurila of Fangraphs not long after getting the gig. Goold had previously examined Budaska’s importance to the Cards’ developmental system before the hiring of Albert. As for Jimenez, he’s a well-known commodity to the St. Louis front office, having spent more than a decade working on the Cardinals farm.
  • Finally, the Nationals appear optimistic on the health outlooks of two superstars. The club believes it has dodged a bullet with outfielder Juan Soto, as Britt Ghiroli of The Athletic was among those to cover (Twitter links). Soto was able to participate in baseball activities yesterday after initially fearing he had suffered a significant ankle injury in his latest contest. Meanwhile, ace Max Scherzer continues to make steady progress in his quest to move past a back issue. He remains slated for a sim game and is said to be feeling well, but the team still isn’t confident of a particular timeline. ***Update: Soto is in today’s lineup, while Scherzer threw his sim game as scheduled.

NL Notes: Castellanos, Cubs, Padres, Richards, Pirates

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Outfielder Nicholas Castellanos is only about a week into his Cubs tenure, but Patrick Mooney of The Athletic (subscription link) wonders if the free agent-to-be will work his way into the team’s plans past this season. Castellanos has excelled at the plate over a rather small sample of work as a Cub, and as Mooney explains, the former Tiger has taken a liking to his new franchise. While the 27-year-old Castellanos will be one of the top hitters in the upcoming winter’s free-agent class, a lack of defensive value figures to limit his earning power. The price could be palatable enough for the Cubs to retain him, but it wouldn’t be ideal that Castellanos would have to remain a full-time outfielder in a DH-less league.

More from the NL…

  • The Padres don’t expect the shoulder tightness that forced right-hander Garrett Richards from his latest rehab start to require an MRI, per Jeff Sanders on the San Diego Union-Tribune. “We’ll see how it responds over the coming week to treatment and when he picks up a ball in the near future,” manager Andy Green said of Richards. If all goes well, the former Angel could debut with the Padres sometime before this season ends. The Padres signed Richards to a two-year, $15.5MM contract last winter just a few months after he underwent Tommy John surgery.
  • Prized Pirates righty Mitch Keller is likely to return to the majors for a start next Tuesday, Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette suggests. The 23-year-old is one of the game’s highest-ranked pitching prospects, but a three-start audition in the majors from May to June didn’t go well. Keller allowed 14 earned runs on 21 hits and six walks in a 12-inning span, though he did strike out 15 batters. And Keller has held his own this year in his debut in the offense-driven International League. In 103 2/3 innings with Triple-A Indianapolis, he has pitched to a 3.56 ERA/3.60 FIP with 10.68 K/9 and 3.04 BB/9.
  • More on the Pirates from Mackey, who has the latest on injured outfielder Gregory Polanco and catcher Francisco Cervelli. Polanco, who hasn’t played since June 16 because of left shoulder problems, has received clearance to restart baseball activities. It’s still not clear when he might return to the Bucs, however. Polanco also sat out the first couple weeks of 2019 on account of his shoulder, which required season-ending surgery last September. Cervelli, trying to work back from a concussion that has shelved him since May 25, is progressing toward catching again this season. The concussion-prone Cervelli will first need “final clearances from our doctors, the commissioner’s office and the [MLBPA],” Pirates director of sports medicine Todd Tomczyk said.

Pirates Activate Trevor Williams, Option Mitch Keller

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The Pirates announced today that they have activated right-hander Trevor Williams. To open an active roster spot, the club optioned fellow righty Mitch Keller.

Williams ended up missing just over a month of action with a side strain. Before going on the injured list on May 17, the 27-year-old Williams pitched to a matching 3.33 ERA/3.33 FIP with 7.0 K/9, 1.67 BB/9 and .67 HR/9 in 54 innings. Williams, Joe Musgrove and the currently injured pair of Jordan Lyles and Jameson Taillon have been the Pirates’ most productive starters this season. Lyles, out since June 10 with left hamstring tightness, will make a minor league rehab start Sunday, Adam Berry of MLB.com tweets.

Pittsburgh turned to Keller, 23, in hopes the premier prospect would help provide answers for an injury-laden rotation. Instead, Keller has allowed 14 earned runs on 21 hits and six walks through 12 innings and three starts thus far. But Keller was fairly effective in a loss to Detroit on Tuesday, when he yielded two earned runs (four total) on four hits and two walks in five innings, and has already notched 15 strikeouts in his big league career.

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