This story was excerpted from Alex Stumpf’s Pirates Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
BRADENTON, Fla. -- Ever since Mitch Keller’s first Spring Training as a Major Leaguer, the Pirates have always added at least one veteran pitcher to be the unofficial head of the staff -- someone who had been around the blocks a couple times and willing to impart knowledge to a young staff. In 2020, it was Derek Holland. Then it was Tyler Anderson the following year, and he was succeeded by José Quintana, Rich Hill and Martín Pérez.
This year, the old guy in camp is Keller, now at the ripe old age of 28.
“I definitely don’t feel like the old guy on our staff,” Keller said with a grin. “I think that’s the cool thing about our staff. Like, yeah, I could be a leader, but Paul [Skenes] is a leader. Jared’s [Jones] a leader. Bailey’s [Falter] a leader. We’re all in this together, learning from each other.”
In a way, it’s expected that Keller would be the de facto head of the rotation. He’s the veteran, the owner of the largest contract for a pitcher in franchise history and someone who guys like Skenes and Jones looked up to last year. While Skenes may be the headliner of the staff in the public eye, Keller is in position to be the leader.
But Keller doesn’t want it to just be him leading the charge. Much has been made about this entire Pirates rotation and how they are going to need to be on the field for this 2025 campaign. The whole rotation should have a say, and everyone should have the ability to speak up whenever they feel it’s necessary.
More vocal leadership was a recurring talking point at PiratesFest last month. Skenes, Bryan Reynolds and Andrew McCutchen aren’t exactly rah-rah guys, but each talked about how they were ready to be willing to say something to the group when they felt it was necessary. Keller was not at PiratesFest -- because he and his wife Clancy were about to welcome their first child -- but you can add him to the list of guys who are going to speak up this season.
“I feel like we’re all at that point,” Keller said. “That it’s our team. I feel like when we signed the Rich Hills, those kinds of guys, to be the guy to rally around, it’s hard for those guys when you haven’t been here. I think Paul and Jared and Bailey have talked about how this is our team. This is our staff. We can do things how we want to. We are those guys that can make statements, like Reynolds, like Cutch.
“It feels good that people are looking to us to do that stuff. ... It’s a lot more fun, that’s for sure.”
It’s not just speaking to his peers, either. It’s presenting ideas to the coaching staff. The Pirates have vocalized how they want development to be a collaborative process between players and coaches, but when the staff usually consists of young arms and one-year vets, that dialogue is harder to achieve.
“I’ve been here for five years now,” Keller said. “You see things that you wish you’d do differently. Now we can go to the staff with what we think we should be doing. It’s a lot more freeing.”
That’s music to manager Derek Shelton’s ears.
“I want Mitch Keller to lead,” Shelton said. “This is a guy we drafted, developed, has had struggles, been really successful and had to grind. I think there’s a lot our group of players, and especially pitchers, can learn from him. If he steps up and takes that role -- and from our conversations, it’s something he wants to do -- that’s really advantageous for us.”
Early in camp, Shelton said the theme of this Spring Training is “winning.” The Pirates have shown flashes the last two years, but they haven’t put together a full campaign. They’re in a position to take that next step, and internal improvement and growth is going to have to be a catalyst to do so.
A united front of people with the same goal is the best way to do that.
“Everyone in here’s a competitor,” Keller said. “All we want to do is win. Just win at the little things. We’re going to have to win at the little things. We’re going to have to play clean, tight baseball every day in order to win. We can’t afford to make errors. We can’t afford to make mental mistakes on the mound. Free bases, 90 extra feet for baserunners. We can’t do that. We have to win different.”