Execution dooms Mitch Keller in Pirates' loss to Tampa Bay Rays

The stuff is good. The execution is poor.

That was the brief but dead-on description of Mitch Keller’s pitching from Pittsburgh Pirates bullpen coach Justin Meccage during Wednesday’s Grapefruit League game against the Tampa Bay Rays.

The right-hander continued his spring struggles as he was knocked around for eight runs on 10 hits, including three home runs, in two innings of a 10-9 loss to the Rays at LECOM Park in Bradenton, Fla.

“The execution we have to get cleaned up,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. “I think we’d have an issue if we didn’t see stuff. We have the stuff there. … Execution we can definitely hone in on.”

The Pirates are counting on Keller, who turns 25 on April 4, to anchor the starting rotation this season after they traded Joe Musgrove and Jameson Taillon and cut ties with Trevor Williams. Through five innings over three starts, Keller has given up 12 earned runs on 15 hits and has a 21.60 ERA and 3.60 WHIP as opponents are batting .556 against him.

By contrast, former Pirates pitcher Tyler Glasnow showed why the Rays named him their Opening Day starter. Glasnow gave up four runs on six hits in four innings, striking out seven and walking one.

Keller struggled from the start. He gave up a single to another former Pirate, Austin Meadows, and walked Manuel Margot, followed by a Joey Wendle double for a 1-0 lead. Mike Brosseau singled to left to make it 2-0, and Francisco Mejia’s sacrifice fly to center gave the Rays a 3-0 lead.

After Wander Franco singled through Keller’s legs into center, the Pirates pulled their starter and sent in Chasen Shreve to finish the inning. Under MLB spring training rules, Keller was allowed to return for the second inning, but that began with Ryan Boldt’s homer to left for a 4-0 lead. Keller then struck out Meadows, Margot and, after a Wendle single, got Brosseau swinging.

The Rays tagged Keller for four more runs in the third. After he got Mejia and Franco to ground out, Keller got hit hard again. Miles Mastrobuoni homered to left-center, Sullivan singled to left, Boldt hit an RBI double to the right-center gap and Meadows smacked a two-run homer to right to make it 8-1. Clay Holmes finished the inning.

“I think he was probably frustrated,” Shelton said. “Fastball command has been an issue. He continued to miss up. When he tried to go away, he ended up cutting across it. So it’s some things we do have to clean up. Mentally, I assume he’s frustrated — and rightfully so, after not commanding the ball. It’s something we’ll talk about after the off day and get him back on track.”

What got the Pirates back on track was a two-run homer by Bryan Reynolds in the third and another multi-hit game by Adam Frazier, who had a triple and a single and scored two runs. Colin Moran hit a two-run shot off the batter’s eye in center to make it 9-5, and Jared Oliva hit a two-run ground-rule double to right to make it 9-8.

Shelton mostly was excited to see how some of the team’s top prospects played to rally them back from an 8-1 deficit to turn it into a close game.

The Pirates also got big plays from prospects who have been reassigned to their minor league camp in 2020 first-round pick Nick Gonzales and shortstop Ji-Hwan Bae, who was sent down Wednesday along with catchers Christian Kelley and Arden Pabst. Gonzales went 2 for 3 with a double to the right-center gap.

“The first inning wasn’t the way we wanted,” Shelton said, “but the last four were pretty exciting to watch if you’re a Pirates fan for what we’re doing moving forward.”