You can tick the first name off our list of likely extension candidates this spring: The Pittsburgh Pirates and All-Star righty Mitch Keller have agreed on a five-year, $77 million contract extension, per MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand, buying out Keller’s last two years of arbitration and first three years of free agency.
It’s also the second-largest contract in franchise history, edging out the eight-year, $70 million extension given to Ke’Bryan Hayes back in 2022 and behind the eight-year, $106.75 million deal Bryan Reynolds signed last spring. That may not sound like much, but to Pittsburgh fans and players starved for a regime that finally signals some interest in investing in winning, it’s an encouraging step.
“I’ve only been with Pittsburgh, so it’s all I really know,” Keller said last summer. “I’d love to spend my whole career here, hopefully as long as possible. Having guys like (Ke’Bryan Hayes and Bryan Reynolds) locked up, it’s really cool to see some core guys getting locked in. I would love to be a part of that.”
It’s also a satisfying full-circle moment for Keller, who looked like a future franchise cornerstone after Pittsburgh drafted him in the second round back in 2014 but has taken a long and winding road to becoming a quality big-league starter. He owned an ugly 6.02 ERA through his first three MLB seasons, but he showed signs of turning the corner in 2022 before finally making the leap last year. The 27-year-old got off to a scorching start, with a 2.44 ERA through his first 10 starts and a 3.31 mark at the All-Star break — enough to earn him a spot as Pittsburgh’s representative at the Midsummer Classic. His second half was a bit bumpier, but his season-long numbers still wound up very respectable: a 13-9 record with a 4.21 ERA (105 ERA+), 1.25 WHIP and 210 strikeouts in 194.1 innings.
There are reasons to believe he’ll get even better over the life of this new deal, too. His previous career high in innings was 159, and he began to visibly wear down as the season progressed — in particular, three awful outings after the break wrecked his numbers, a blip that you’d think he’d be able to iron out as he gets more innings under him in the Majors. Keller caught the league off-guard a bit in his stellar first half, but he throws hard and has a very nice fastball/cutter/sweeper combo to build on. The question has always been his command, and his gains in that department recently suggest that there’s something worth betting on here.
Especially for a Pittsburgh team with plenty of interesting position-player talent but not a ton of pitching ot build around. Keller is set to head up a rotation that could include youngsters Luis Ortiz, Roansy Contreras, Quinn Priester and Johan Oviedo in addition to veteran lefties Martin Perez and Marco Gonzales. After years in the wilderness, it’s time for owner Bob Nutting and Co. to get serious about investing in this team, and with Keller, Hayes and Reynolds locked up, the future looks a little brighter for a Pirates team that finished 76-86 last year.
