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Mitch Keller Reflects on His 2016 Season and Pitcher of the Year Award

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PITTSBURGH — The Pirates honored Josh Bell and Mitch Keller as their minor league player and pitcher of the year on Friday night.

While Bell has been in Pittsburgh since Aug. 20, Keller and his family were brought to town after he finished the season with High-A Bradenton to receive his award.

“It’s a huge honor,” Keller said while meeting with the Pittsburgh media at PNC Park. “I can’t thank them enough for giving me this chance to be here right now. Everything they’ve done for me has been huge and I can’t thank them enough.”

Keller credited most of his success in 2016 from a change in mindset. After going through a forearm strain that cost him the bulk of his 2015 season, it took some time to get back to pitching without worrying about the injury.

“Coming off an injury, I didn’t really have the mentality I had coming in,” Keller said. “I was just trying to stay healthy the rest of the year. Coming into this year, I had the mentality of wanted to do what I’ve always done in high school and in the GCL. That really helped me. You have to dominate every single pitch. Taking that to the mound, I think that really helped me.”

The yearly award wasn’t the only way the Pirates recognized Keller’s strong 2016 season that saw him post a 2.46 ERA over 23 starts with Low-A West Virginia. At the end of the season, he was called up to Bradenton for the Marauder’s playoff run.

“I was really excited when I got the call,” Keller recalled. “I wasn’t really expecting it that late. I was expecting to make my next start in Columbia. But I got the call and I was really excited to help the team and when they told me I was going to help them throughout the playoffs, I was even more excited about that.”

The recognition from the Pirates — and other sources around baseball — that has resulted with Keller being one of the most highly touted pitching prospects in all of baseball, has shown him that the goals he set as a second round draft pick out of Cedar Rapids, Iowa are possible.

“It definitely makes you feel good inside and gives you all the confidence in the world,” he said. “It motivates you for next year, too. I want to stay there and get even better. I want to be at the top of everything I do. It motivates me.”

Keller plans to “work out at home with my brother and just kind of relax for the next two weeks” at the end of his season. Keller’s brother Jon is a reliever in the Orioles’ organization.

Keller doesn’t know what his 2017 season will have in store, but he is expecting to start back in Bradenton, with an eye towards moving up again, possibly facing his brother at the Double-A level.

“We’re really competitive people,” he said. “It’s fun and it crosses over into baseball, too, growing up with him and having him kick my butt all the time, beat me up — it grew me up faster and let me handle some of the tough times that come in baseball.”

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