Pirates Completely Mishandled Mitch Keller Promotion

The Pittsburgh Pirates seriously mishandled the Mitch Keller promotion.

In a roster move made on Tuesday, Keller was optioned to AAA Indianapolis, and right-hander Richard Rodriguez was recalled in his place.

ROSTER MOVE: We have optioned RHP Mitch Keller to AAA Indy and RHP Richard Rodriguez has been recalled from Indy.
— Pirates (@Pirates) May 28, 2019

The Pirates clearly were giving their top prospect a one-start trial against the Cincinnati Reds on Monday, and he did not perform up to their expectations, or his own, for that matter.

Keller struggled in his major-league debut, yielding six runs over four innings. He did log seven strikeouts, which is very encouraging, but that wasn't enough for the Pirates to give him a longer look.

First of many big league K's for #Pirates' Mitch Keller! pic.twitter.com/3X2FEScySE
— Minor League Baseball (@MiLB) May 27, 2019

Keller allowed all six of these runs in the first inning, including a grand slam, but managed to allow just one hit over the final three innings of work. The 23-year-old had some nerves in the first inning, but after that, he showed why he's one of the best pitching prospects in all of baseball. His curveball was great, his slider showed some potential, and his fastball worked well too.

You've got to give Mitch Keller tons of credit. Pirates gave him an opportunity after a disastrous first inning and he responded with three really good innings. He'll be fine. IMO.
— Jeff Johnson (@jeje66) May 28, 2019

The Pirates rotation does not look too strong right now, with Jameson Taillon and Trevor Williams on the injured list, and Chris Archer not performing the way he should. There's also absolutely no reason for a player like Nick Kingham or Steven Brault to be receiving starts over Keller the way that they've struggled so far.

You HAVE to give Mitch Keller another start after how good he looked when he settled down. Unacceptable to continue with Brault and Kingham unless they know Williams will be back very soon.
— Pirates of the Allegheny (@OfTheAllegheny) May 28, 2019

Keller needs to be a part of this rotation now, and sending him down doesn't help him at all. In fact, it could very well hurt his confidence in his stuff, which doesn't help anyone.

After settling in to retire 10 of the final 11 batters he faced on his way to pitching 3 dominant innings, Mitch Keller deserves another start with the Pirates. https://t.co/dhw8ELNwKq
— Rum Bunter (@rumbunter) May 28, 2019

The Pirates mishandled this one, and were apparently only looking at the box score when evaluating Keller. Sure, he got blown up in the first inning, but there were far more positives to take away from his start.

Keller needs to get called back up, and soon. The Pirates can't keep rolling out Brault and Kingham, and think everything will work out for them in the end. It just won't work.