Pittsburgh Pirates Reportedly Working on Extension with Opening Day Starter
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On Sunday morning, Bob Nightengale of USA Today reported that the Pittsburgh Pirates are having contract extension negotiations with starting pitcher Mitch Keller.
Then, on Sunday afternoon, Keller delivered a historic performance on the mound against the Baltimore Orioles.
There was no information provided about numbers -- or how close the two sides might be -- but the Pirates did recently lock up Bryan Reynolds to a long-term deal, so they appear to be trying to build a young nucleus.
After his seven-inning, 13 strikeout performance on Sunday, Keller is now 5-1 with a 2.38 ERA. The Pirates had lost nine of their last 10, so Keller's performance came at an important time.
For his career, he's 17-30 with a 4.62 ERA but after earning the Opening Day start for Pittsburgh this year, he appears to have turned a corner in his career, and the Pirates appear ready to bank on that as well.
There is no pressure to get anything done, as Keller still has two full years left on his rookie deal at this point, plus the rest of this season. The 27-year-old will be arbitration eligible in both 2023 and 2024.
With Keller, Reynolds, Oneil Cruz and Ke'Bryan Hayes, the Pirates are building a team that can contend. Despite the rough patch of late, they enter play on Monday at 22-19 and 1.5 games back of the Milwaukee Brewers for first place in the National League Central.
The Pirates are off on Monday but open up a series with the Tigers in Detroit on Tuesday.
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