CINCINNATI — It’s been hard to put a price point on Mitch Keller this season and throughout his career. Sometimes he’s solid. Other nights he struggles. Roll the dice, think happy thoughts, and there’s still little guarantee on what you’re going to get. The lack of predictability has driven plenty of people who watch the Pirates crazy.
Bryan Reynolds, meanwhile, has been the opposite. He’s hit .300 or better pretty much every full season of his career, which is what made the pandemic-shortened 2020 such an outlier. Outside of that season, Reynolds has been consistently outstanding and someone the Pirates should absolutely make part of their future.
Those forces showed up during the Pirates’ 11-3 loss to the Reds at Great American Ball Park on Saturday — Keller and his continual so-so-ness, Reynolds with what is starting to feel like an MLB-caliber season, the center fielder shining brighter and brighter on both sides of the ball.
While the Pirates offense endured another sleepy night, Reynolds had a monster game, going 3 for 4 with a home run, a triple, three RBIs and a run scored. He was helped by Anthony Alford, who doubled twice in his first game.
Meanwhile, it was more middle-of-the-road stuff from Keller, who worked five innings and allowed four earned runs on seven hits and four walks. The right-hander struck out four, hit a batter and coughed up a solo home run.
Keller threw 57 of his 100 pitches for strikes, though he didn’t do a great job of getting ahead in counts early. He faced 24 batters and threw first-pitch strikes to 11 of them. Keller also went 2-0 or 2-1 on 10 of those hitters.
Establishing the fastball has been a focal point for Keller, and he threw plenty of them — 62 total, including 34 (54.8%) for strikes. The Pirates likely want that number to be a little higher, and it lacked because Keller struggled early with his fastball command at the top of the zone.
Keller was better executing his breaking stuff ahead in counts, staying out of the middle of the plate more frequently than he did in his last start. The flip side of that involved Keller’s change-up, which he only threw twice and once spiked it into the ground.
A secondary bright spot behind Reynolds in this one included the offensive comfortability of Alford, who was playing his first MLB game since April 18. Alford’s first double came on a slider that he roped into the left-field corner, the second a curveball he drilled at 106.2 mph.
Both tracked with what Alford said before the game, how he’s been able to tap into more power thanks to some of the work he did at Class AAA Indianapolis. Prior to Saturday, the only double in Alford’s career came when he was with Toronto, on May 23, 2017 at Milwaukee.
The Pirates actually scored first thanks to a Reynolds triple, the center fielder going down to get a 1-2 slider and whacking it down the right-field line. That scored Ke’Bryan Hayes, who was standing on second with a one-out double.
Trailing 6-1 in the eighth, Reynolds absolutely crushed another slider, this one from reliever Brad Brach. He drove it to the grass in center field for his 19th home run of the season. Reynolds now has as many homers as Hayes, Colin Moran and Gregory Polanco — the second, fourth and fifth hitters against the Reds — combined.
The Reds answered Reynolds’ triple with three runs in the bottom of the third. Center fielder Shogo Akiyama and second baseman Jonathan India singled before left fielder Jesse Winker doubled into the right-field corner.
This wasn’t a huge mistake from Keller, who threw a first-pitch curveball that was actually in a good spot, down and in. Of Winker’s first 22 home runs — he added a two-run shot in the eighth — none have come on pitches located there.
Cincinnati took a 2-1 lead on another unfortunate occurrence for Keller, as right fielder Nick Castellanos knocked a high-and-outside slider through the left side while the Pirates were shifted, past a diving Hoy Park to score another run.
The Reds stretched their lead to 3-1 on a sacrifice fly from the next batter, first baseman Joey Votto.
One pitch Keller will likely want back opened the fifth inning with a Castellanos homer that came on a 1-1 fastball that Keller left over the heart of the plate. Castellanos launched it the other way, into the Pirates bullpen in right.
The Pirates have now allowed 58 runs and 17 home runs in six games this season at Great American Ball Park.
