PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – It was a final spring outing that was typical of his final two starts of 2020. Mitch Keller went three innings, allowing only a hit with no runs, two strikeouts and four walks. Pirates beat the Orioles 2-1 Sunday to move to 13-13-1 in Spring Training action.
Keller made five starts this spring—11.1 innings, 15 earned runs, 23 hits, 3 home runs, 11 strikeouts, 8 walks.
Neither Keller, nor manager Derek Shelton were available after his outing Sunday. Shelton did say before the game that Keller had three rough starts to begin Grapefruit League play, but then settled down in his fourth. Shelton said Keller and pitching coach Oscar Marin have had productive video sessions.
2019 First Rounder appears
Sent to the minors a couple of weeks ago, 2019 first round pick, starting pitcher Quinn Priester came in with no outs in the eighth inning. Priester walked his first batter, got a pop out, walked his third batter, got a line out and then walked his fifth batter. Manager Derek Shelton came out and got the 20- year-old with the bases loaded and two outs.
Twenty-five year-old lefty Blake Weiman, another from minor league camp, was able to get a strikeout to end the inning.
Other pitching
Braden Ogle gave up the only Baltimore run in his inning of work. Michael Feliz, Nick Mears and lefty Sam Howard each threw a perfect inning, striking out a pair. Luis Oviedo threw a perfect inning with one strikeout.
Decisions coming
The Pirates have yet to name a starter in centerfield or at shortstop, along with several decisions with the starting rotation and bullpen. There are two more exhibition games left.
“I feel like with a couple of them we are really close,” Shelton said of decisions Sunday morning. “A couple of them we still have a lot of discussion to do. You like to have good challenges, but we’ve had some guys step up and do some really good things.”
Up Next
Final Grapefruit League game at LECOM Park in 2021 with Miguel Yajure starting against the Twins at 1:05p. Kyle Crick, Richard Rodriguez, Chasen Shreve and Chris Stratton are among others scheduled to pitch.