PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – He saw it develop over the course of the season. Even a 100-loss season. Bucs pitcher Mitch Keller said there is a cool energy and buzz around the Pirates as pitchers and catchers go through workouts in Bradenton.
"You can feel it," Keller said. "You could feel it a little bit towards the second half of last year. Everyone coming together, filling out the pieces. We knew who were our core group of guys."
"Everyone was playing a lot better baseball. We were in a lot of close games last year. I think just finding a little more experience and finding ways to win those games are going to turn us around."
Bucs added to that experience with a number of 30-somethings, even a 42-year-old starting pitcher. Rich Hill is expected to be a key part of the rotation, even if he isn't one of the top couple of starters. It may take some of the pressure off Keller and Roansy Contreras to carry the team in the front half of the staff. When they have questions, once again they can see out a peer to help them along.
"He brings a lot of experience which is awesome," Keller said. "We were kind of lacking that. We didn't really have much experience. We had Quintana there for a little bit, which was huge. I think having Rich will be even better. A really good situation for all of us to learn from him. He's been a lot of different situations."
Hill has made 57 starts in the last two seasons. That's more than anyone else on a rotation that, beyond the three previously mentioned, could have a number of moving pieces. JT Brubaker (3-12, 4.69 ERA in 2022) and Vince Velasquez (3-3, 4.78 ERA in 9 starts in 2022) are likely the four and five. But several younger pitchers will me backing a push-Luis Ortiz and his 100 mph fastball, Johan Oviedo-who came over in the Quintana trade, Mike Burrows (111 strikeouts in 94 innings in the minors in 2022), Quinn Priester (first-round pick who had a 3.29 ERA in 19 minor-league starts in 2022) and maybe a surprise or two like Cody Bolton.
"We have so much talent," Keller said. "We only needed a little bit of experience and settle in to feel comfortable about their game. A lot of guys saw success last year in bits and pieces. Having that confidence and really running with it is going to be awesome for us in 2023."
Keller mentioned not only the team having a strong second half, but the --- year-old righty was a big part of that. He finished 5-12 with a 3.91 ERA overall, but had a 2.61 ERA in July and 1.80 ERA in September, cutting down on his walks.
"Pounding the strike zone," Keller said of how he improved. "Just trying to be more in the zone and really with the sinker. That was a huge pitch. I was talking to Cutch and he said we didn't know you were throwing that. Once we saw it, it's a huge pitch for you."
He's worked this off-season at being even more consistent with his sinker and refining his other pitches. He's tinkered a little, but hopes to carry on the confidence from 2022, where he nearly cut his ERA in half from the previous season.
Keller is glad to have a normal schedule in baseball again. The last few years training was greatly impacted by the pandemic, but now it's like it was. He believes that normalcy will help this team as it looks to continue to climb.
The veteran of 70 MLB games, Keller believes they have a lot of special players and thinks they can bring something special back to PNC Park in April.
