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PITTSBURGH — Pirates veteran starter Mitch Keller was not having the season he was hoping for, and the right-hander won’t get an opportunity to try and finish the year on a high note.
The Pirates placed Keller on the 60-day injured list on Monday with a right arm teres major muscle injury, ending his season.
“Obviously, not the news you wanted to hear,” Keller said. “I wanted to finish out the year and help us, but not gonna happen.”
Keller pitched against the Reds in Cincinnati on Sunday afternoon. He struggled and was taken out before he recorded an out in the third inning. It was then that Keller could knew something was wrong.
“It just kept getting tighter and tighter throughout the game,” he said. “Then in the third inning, for sure, I felt it the most.”
Keller said other than the normal wear and tear that comes with a major league season, nothing felt off injury-wise prior to his start on Sunday.
After he was charged with seven runs in two-plus innings against the Reds, Keller concludes his disappointing 2026 season at 6-8 with a 5.29 ERA. That mark is his highest since he posted a 6.17 ERA in 23 starts in 2021, a year before Keller revitalized his career.
Despite struggling for most of the season, Keller began the second half strong. Combined between his first two starts after the break, he had allowed two runs in 10.1 innings against two playoff-hopefuls.
“It’s extremely disappointing,” he said. “I thought my first two starts back from the break were really good. I was really excited to keep growing on those.”
Throughout his time with the Pirates, Keller has gone through ups and downs. But one thing the Pirates haven’t had to worry about until now is who will take the ball every fifth day when his spot in the rotation comes up.
Only three players have made more starts than Keller since the start of the 2022 season. Logan Webb tops the list with 152. Dylan Cease is second with 151, followed by Kevin Gausman who has made 149. Keller has totaled 146.
During his time with the Pirates, Keller had only been placed on the IL once. That came in 2020, when he missed six weeks with an oblique injury. But this is the first time Keller has been sidelined due to his pitching arm.
“This is my first arm injury in 12 years,” he said. “Kind of crazy.”
Keller will not throw for approximately eight weeks. The Pirates can be careful with his recovery knowing that it will be the offseason by the time he works his way back.
Keller said he still wants to help in any way he can while sidelined. But physically, all he can do now is gear up for next season.
“Obviously, this is a crappy thing to have happen, but I’m gonna use the time that I have off to get my body right, get my hips right and strengthen up the areas I need to to have a a really good delivery that I want to have going into next year.”
The post Pirates’ Keller Talks Season-Ending Injury: ‘It’s Extremely Disappointing’ appeared first on Pittsburgh Baseball Now.
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