Bucs' Keller building on breakout effort in AFL

GLENDALE, Arizona -- When Mitch Keller found his form with his changeup this season, every other part of his game clicked into place.
"It was a really big point for me, trying on new grips and just being able to use it in the Florida State League and then when I got up to Double-A, it was a really big pitch for me up there," he said. "The guys up there kind of knew what I was about and were just sitting on fastballs, so I needed something to get them off it, and it really helped."
The top-ranked Pirates pitching prospect posted a 3.03 ERA with 116 strikeouts across Class A Advanced Bradenton, Double-A Altoona and two rehab starts for Class A Short Season West Virginia in his fourth pro season. Now he's logging some more innings -- he worked 116 frames despite being sidelined with a lower back strain in May -- for Glendale in the Arizona Fall League.

His improved changeup, which helped him jump from No. 72 to No. 18 a'mong MLB.coms Top 100 Prospects, complements a low-90s fastball with sink and a curveball with a sharp downward break.
"Ever since I've been throwing [the curve], I've had some pretty good break to it," he said. "As a weapon, I think I can move [my fastball] to either side of the plate and command it pretty well, and it's got some velo to it, so it keeps hitters honest and makes my secondary stuff play a little more."
As sharp as the secondary pitches have gotten, the 21-year-old right-hander believes they can get better, and so do the Pirates.
"More experience, and the secondary stuff, too," are his primary objectives in the AFL, according to Keller. "[I'm] trying to get that changeup really consistent and being a good secondary pitch that I can use all the time instead of just showing it, trying to use it to get effective outs and keep my pitch count down. I know that my stuff, I'm going to need [the changeup and curveball to be strong] as I go up [to Triple-A and the Major Leagues] to be successful."

Being in the AFL gives the 2014 second-rounder the opportunity to test his overall game against lineups made up from the best hitters across the Minors.
"It's a blast. It's just a new level of competition that you'll eventually see in the big leagues some day. ... I just can't imagine what it's like up there facing these kinds of hitters times 10 every day," he said. "It's a lot of fun."
He also goes up against those hitters with less information than pitchers typically have during the regular season. In the AFL, there's not much focus on studying the opponents' approach.
"We don't really have scouting reports on anybody, so it's kind of just pitch to your strengths, and just do you and see where it goes," Keller said.
Likewise, pitchers in the AFL are working with catchers who, for the most part, are learning large staffs with unfamiliar repertoires. There isn't time over the six-week circuit for backstops to learn the ins and outs of every hurler's game. But Keller, who threw to Phillies prospect Edgar Cabral in each of his first three starts in the desert, has enjoyed getting to work with a batterymate from outside his organization.
"They're really good catchers, so they can feel you out pretty quick," he said. "They know what they're doing, and I trust them, and I think I know what I'm doing sometimes."
The other obstacle that this year's AFL competition offers some pitchers -- experimental pace-of-play rules, including a 12-second pitch clock when no runners are on base -- isn't much of an obstacle for Keller, whose natural inclination on the mound is to waste no time.
"I usually work quick as a pitcher, just to keep the tempo up and keep the infielders in it, and it doesn't let the hitters really gather themselves much," he said, explaining that the clock hasn't been much of a factor in his outings. "You notice it more when there's somebody on base [when the clock is set to 15 seconds], or you have to go cover first base. You get 30 seconds [between batters]. That's a quick turnaround, when you usually try to catch your breath, settle down after that. But it's pretty easy to reset it. You just step off."
In his third outing, last Tuesday, Keller faced the Peoria Javelinas, whom he held scoreless for three innings in his AFL debut on Oct. 11. The second time around, he surrendered a two-run homer to top Braves prospectRonald Acuña Jr. but was otherwise in control for four innings, giving him a 2.53 ERA over 10 2/3 autumn frames.
"I'd say [Peoria] is probably the best lineup out here, altogether, just name-wise and prospect status and all that good stuff, but that's a really good lineup. They're really good at making it tough for us pitchers to keep them off the board," he admitted after his second outing. "I felt really good about it. I threw some really good changeups in good counts. The curveball was working. I felt really good with that. I threw it for strikes, I threw it for a put-away, so I felt good about it."
In that sense, the outing against the Javelinas was what Keller hopes his AFL is all about.
"Just the experience of playing with all of these top-level guys, I'm taking that and using that for next year," he said. "Hopefully that will make me a better pitcher and a better player."