The Pittsburgh Pirates are going to be without one of their top starting pitchers for the rest of the season. The team announced that Mitch Keller has a teres major muscle injury in his right shoulder and that he will be out.
Keller won’t be eligible to be activated back on the active roster till October 2 and the regular season ends on September 27.
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Keller won’t be allowed to throw for six to eight weeks, preventing a possible return. The teres major is one of the major muscles controlling the shoulder joint, extending from the shoulder blade to the top of the arm.
The injury could have something to do with the offseason that Keller is having. He has 5.29 ERA in 22 starts and a 6-8 record.
The 30-year-old’s last outing was one his worst starts of his career, only lasting two innings and allowing seven earned runs in the 10-2 loss to the Cincinnati Reds. The start was frustrating for Keller because it also came after he put together two starts where he allowed two earned runs over 10 1/3 innings to seemingly start to get his season back on track.
Even though Keller has been inconsistent this season, it is still a big loss for a Pirates starting rotation that has been pretty healthy. Jared Jones started the season on the 60-day IL but has been playing well since coming back.
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The Pirates recalled Brandon Eisert from Triple-A Indianapolis to join the roster as a replacement for Keller. The Bucs went all in on relief pitchers during the trade deadline and didn’t go after a starting pitcher.
We could see Carmen Mlodzinski be put back into the rotation after leaving to go to the bullpen in late May. The right-hander is 6-3 with a 3.15 ERA in 25 appearances/nine starts this season.
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