Pittsburgh Pirates' Ace Mitch Keller Makes Team History
Mitch Keller started for the Pittsburgh Pirates on Opening Day and hasn't looked back.
The hard-throwing right-hander has established himself as the Pirates ace this season, and with that, he's made some very impressive team history.
The team put out a graphic on Twitter:
He is the first pitcher in team history to have 90 or more strikeouts prior to June 1st. He's third overall in strikeouts in baseball at 93, trailing only Spencer Strider and Kevin Gausman.
He's certainly on track to make the All-Star team for the National League.
Keller is currently 7-1 on the season with a 3.25 ERA. He's struck out those 93 batters in just 74.2 innings and has posted a 1.08 WHIP.
He was a second-round pick of the Pirates back in the 2014 draft. The Iowa native was chosen out of the Iowa high school ranks and made his major league debut in 2019.
He's 19-30 in his career with a 4.68 ERA. He has 404 strikeouts in exactly 404 innings.
He's been a huge bright spot for the surprising Pirates, who are in the thick of the National League playoff picture. Pittsburgh enters play on Friday at 28-27 and just 0.5 games back of the first-place Brewers.
They'll open up a big divisional showdown on Friday with the St. Louis Cardinals. First pitch on Friday is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. ET.
Keller is not scheduled to pitch in this series.
Roansy Contreras, Luis Ortiz and Rich Hill will get the ball for the Pirates in the series.
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