PITTSBURGH -- At 30 years old, Mitch Keller is the veteran of the Pirates' rotation. But this year, in his eighth MLB season, Keller is experiencing a power outage.
The right-hander entered Thursday’s rubber match with a 7.01 ERA in his prior seven starts. His struggles only continued against the Dodgers as Keller allowed five runs on seven hits in four innings in Pittsburgh’s 8-6 loss to Los Angeles at PNC Park.
Keller’s season ERA rose to 5.14, which would be the second-worst mark of his career. Los Angeles, meanwhile, put four balls in play vs. Keller that were 100 mph or harder.
“Obviously [I'm] not executing,” Keller said. “Walking people's not helping me. Just got to be better. Got to fill it up more, attack the hitters and just execute when I've got them in two strikes.”
As usual for the Dodgers, it was Shohei Ohtani getting the line moving. Keller walked Ohtani out of the gate before inducing a double play. He then walked Freddie Freeman and gave up a single to Mookie Betts, but escaped the jam with a groundout.
Keller rebounded in the second, retiring the side in order. But with one out in the third, Ohtani struck a blow and lifted a home run to right-center field with a 107.7 mph exit velo.
Andy Pages followed with a single at 102.5 mph before Freeman was hit by a pitch. Betts drove a ball to the top of the left-field fence, only to be thwarted when Bryan Reynolds robbed what could have been a three-run homer. A run did come home in the next at-bat, when Kyle Tucker singled, but Keller limited the damage in the frame to those two runs.
The damage kept coming, though, due to Keller's command struggles.
Keller gave up six free bases -- two hit-by-pitches and four walks -- while striking out just three. He threw 98 pitches, 56 of which were strikes (57%).
When the lineup circled back around in the fourth, Ohtani ripped a single to right field at 108.7 mph. Two more runs came across that inning, on a single and a wild pitch. Keller couldn’t battle any further as his pitch count climbed higher, the Pirates turning to the bullpen for the final five innings. It was Keller's third straight start in which he failed to complete five frames.
Keller felt his curveball was on point, though the Dodgers laid off the offering. Sequencing better could be a possible solution, according to Keller -- but as he said, if he had the answer to his issues he would’ve already solved them. Pirates manager Don Kelly thought Keller struggled to finish off batters deep in the count.
“Just didn't execute. Against a good team like this, you've got to execute and throw strikes and limit the free passes,” Keller said. “I didn't do that tonight. That's the end result.”
Keller has never been a flamethrowing type like some of Pittsburgh’s other starters. However, he’s kept batters off balance throughout his career and produced expected batting averages under .260 for the past four seasons. In his eight big league seasons, Keller has gone through his fair share of rough patches but has responded in kind each time.
This season has had a different tone, as his xBA against is .278. Keller’s strikeout rate is also the lowest of his career (18%), and under 20% for the first time since 2021.
Pittsburgh attempted a comeback with a four-run fifth inning, but Keller put it in a hole too large to dig out of. With each blunder by the veteran righty, more pressure looms. In a six-game stretch against baseball’s best two teams, the Pirates went just 1-5. Pittsburgh’s bullpen has a 4.44 ERA through 69 games, the fourth worst mark in the National League.
Jared Jones is still limited coming off internal brace surgery and Carmen Mlodzinski is the steady piggyback. Wilber Dotel also adds length out of the bullpen. Though if the Pirates want to snap the longest postseason drought in the National League, they’ll need their longest tenured player to find his way.
“He has done it,” Kelly said. “He’s been a really good pitcher for us. He’s gonna get out of this. We need to find a way.”