After strong July, might Pirates starter Mitch Keller finally be reaching his potential?

Heading into a start on the road against the Baltimore Orioles on Friday, Mitch Keller is navigating uncharted waters as an MLB pitcher.

Keller ended the month of July with a 2.61 ERA and has produced four consecutive quality starts for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

For the 26-year-old Keller, that constitutes the most consistent stretch he has managed to stack together since debuting with the Pirates in 2019.

Granted, Keller owns a 3-7 record and 4.37 ERA for the season — not exactly All-Star numbers. Nor has Keller fully proven he can serve as an anchor for the starting rotation.

But for a pitcher whose career has been hampered by struggles and inconsistencies, Keller’s current streak is worth noting.

“This is probably the best baseball he’s pitched in a while, especially at the major-league level,” pitching coach Oscar Marin said. “One of the things we’ve seen that just kind of led to this is (his) confidence. I think everybody sees it on the mound.”

Keller might have had confidence in the past, but now he has the results to back it up.

“That string of starts definitely felt just kind of like how it used to feel in the minor leagues — having really good outings, continuing to roll with them and keeping things going for the next one,” Keller said.

“Hopefully, I can continue it in the month of August and then throughout the rest of the season. If I can do that, it’s shaking out to be a pretty good year.”

Keller has demonstrated an increased ability to work himself out of jams as the season has progressed.

Take his recent start against Philadelphia.

In the top of the first inning, he allowed a single to Rhys Hoskins and walked a pair of batters, loading the bases with one out.

Finding himself in a pinch, Keller proceeded to strike out two hitters in a row to end the inning. He went on to go six innings, allowing just one run in an eventual 2-1 loss that registered as a no-decision for him.

Keller would probably be the first to admit that making the mistake of walking a few batters has been a common issue in the past.

Last year, his first full campaign as a starter with the Pirates, Keller’s WHIP was an unsightly 1.79.

He has lowered that number to 1.42 this season, and Pirates manager Derek Shelton echoed Marin’s point about the mental side of Keller’s game playing a big part.

“I think his mindset is in a situation where every time he goes out, he expects really good things to happen,” Shelton said. “If it does go off track a little bit, he has worked to get to the point where mentally, he is able to get himself back on track.

“A lot of people expect when guys get to the big leagues and they’re a prospect that you’re automatically going to have that, and that’s something you have to learn.”

In addition to the strides Keller has made from a mental toughness standpoint, he also has benefited from an enhancement of his repertoire.

In June, Keller began regularly incorporating a sinker. Usually thrown at 93-94 mph, the pitch has a nice bite to it and complements his four-seam fastball.

Whereas in the past, Keller relied heavily on his fastball and curveball, recently he has taken a more vertical approach.

While the four-seamer remains his primary pitch, per Statcast, Keller’s slider and sinker have become go-to pitches No. 2 and 3. This season, Keller has thrown the former 23% of the time, with his sinker approaching 22% of all his pitches.

The transition Keller has made was deemed necessary by the Pirates staff.

“I think one of the things with Mitch that he understood, and one of the talks we’ve had, is (that) the game of baseball asks you to make adjustments,” Marin said. “The game of baseball was asking him to make an adjustment because what he was doing wasn’t really threading the needle and pushing the needle.”

Keller bought in quickly to the change, and it has undoubtedly borne fruit for him.

Making such significant alterations to his approach midseason has had the effect of turning Keller into somewhat of a new pitcher against divisional opponents.

“All they’ve seen from me is four-seamers,” he said. “All they’ve known is four-seam, four-seam, four-seam. So the first time some of these guys have seen me again with the sinker, it’s definitely helped out a lot.”

Keller is producing results that his teammates and coaches were confident he was capable of.

“He’s always been a really good pitcher,” catcher Jason Delay said. “I can’t say (I’ve been) really surprised. … It’s been fun to watch and help him along with it.”