Kevin Gorman: Pirates missed the mark in Mitch Keller's PNC Park debut

As PNC Park debuts go, Mitch Keller’s lacked sizzle.

Not to mention a victory.

Keller was as much to blame for that as the Pittsburgh Pirates are, as both his major-league debut and second start were disappointing defeats at Cincinnati and Atlanta, respectively.

The buildup you would expect for a team’s No. 1 prospect was missing. The ballpark atmosphere was nothing like Gerrit Cole’s major-league debut in June 2013, when the former No. 1 overall draft pick took a shutout into the seventh inning of an 8-2 victory over San Francisco before 30,614.

Instead, the Pirates stranded nine runners and committed three errors, including one by Keller, as his first start at PNC Park was a 5-4 loss to Detroit on Tuesday night.

“It’s cool, pitching in front of the home crowd,” Keller said quietly in the losing locker room. “Just to go out there and to experience that was pretty cool.”

You know what would have been even cooler?

If the Pirates had started Keller against the Colorado Rockies on May 22 at PNC Park, when they still had a winning record (24-21) and were only 3.5 games out of first place in the NL Central.

Instead, the Pirates used Montana DuRapau as opener, only to see it backfire. DuRapau lasted only one-third of an inning, allowing three runs on three hits. He was replaced by Nick Kingham, who gave up six runs (all earned) on nine hits and four walks in four innings of a 9-3 loss to the Rockies.

Now, to be fair, it might have made no difference.

Keller allowed six runs on seven hits, including a Jose Iglesias grand slam, in four innings in his debut at Cincinnati on Memorial Day. Fifteen days later, Keller gave up six runs on 10 hits in three innings at Atlanta on Jun 12.

This time, Keller started for the Pirates in an interleague game played before 18,301, a crowd that cheered louder for Jordy Mercer’s return than Keller’s arrival. Keller allowed four runs (two earned) on four hits over five innings, with six strikeouts and two walks. He relied heavily on his fastball while throwing 59 of his 93 pitches for strikes.

“It went better than the first two,” Keller said. “I felt like I had more command with everything, just mixing well and limiting damage when there were runners on base. I think that was huge.”

But Keller’s throwing error to first on Harold Castro’s sacrifice bunt proved costly, as the Tigers scored two runs on Jung Ho Kang’s error at third base to take a 4-1 lead in the fourth.

“He did some things much better,” Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. “The two errors in the same inning were problematic – one of them his. So it was a more competitive fight off the mound, more strikes thrown. … There were some better things that went on, some better sequences.”

That’s not exactly a ringing endorsement. Nor did Pirates pitching coach Ray Searage give one before the game when asked about Keller’s pros and cons.

“He’s got good stuff,” Searage said. “Too many mistakes over the middle of the plate, simple as that.”

Keller showed his stuff when he faced Tigers first baseman Miguel Cabrera in the first inning. Keller got two called strikes before throwing balls on three of his next four pitches. Finally, on the ninth pitch, he struck out Cabrera swinging. In his next at-bat, however, the 36-year-old Cabrera belted an RBI single to right-center for his 2,745^th career hit.

“He’s probably going to go to the Hall of Fame, which is crazy to think about,” Keller said. “In the back of your mind, it’s just another hitter. At that point, with a guy of that caliber, you’ve just got to be a little bit better with your pitches, especially with runners on base. I didn’t do that.”

Keller probably didn’t do enough to stay in the big leagues. Not with Trevor Williams returning from the injured list to pitch against the Tigers on Wednesday. Not with Jordan Lyles soon to return. Not with the way Steven Brault has pitched as a starter.

That means Keller is likely to be optioned to Triple-A Indianapolis, where he can continue to work on the curveball and changeup he used sparingly against the Tigers. The jump from Triple-A to the majors hasn’t been the smoothest transition for Keller, but he’s learning a valuable lesson.

“Everyone’s a really good hitter. I just need to be a better pitcher,” Keller said. “There’s a reason why it’s the big leagues and why they’re up here. Everyone is really good and everyone is meant to be here.”

As is Mitch Keller, so long as he brings the sizzle in his next major-league start for the Pirates.

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