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By Jarrod Prugar
For the Mirror
PITTSBURGH -- When the Altoona Curve won the Eastern League Championship in 2017 it was a young Mitch Keller who helped shoulder the load so to speak.
Keller put together two performances that have been permanently etched in Curve lore.
The first came in Game-1 of the Western Division playoffs at Bowie. Keller carved the Baysox up to the tune of a nine-inning complete-game shutout where he faced the minimum 27 hitters while striking out four and allowing only one hit and two walks.
That performance catapulted Altoona to a sweep of Bowie and a matchup against the heavily favored Trenton Thunder.
The Curve won the first two games on the road in Trenton before coming home to host the Thunder for game three.
Keller tossed 7• innings allowing two runs and four hits while striking out eight to help set up a championship-clinching victory for Altoona.
He followed that up with a 9-2 record and 2.72 ERA in 14 games with the Curve in 2018 before being promoted to Indianapolis.
Keller's MLB debut on May 27, 2019 was the beginning of a wild trajectory that saw glimpses of what made Keller an Altoona legend, but also some historically bad times as well for the young ace.
Those struggles involved demotions, promotions, and everything in between. Keller,though, stayed true to himself and found himself. That resulted in him winning 13 games in 2023, an All-Star nod and a 5-year, $77 million extension from the Pirates over the offseason.
Looking back it would have been easy for the tough times to overcome and overwhelm Keller, but he didn't let that happen.
"There are probably a bunch of times where I could have quit and stopped going," Keller said. "But, the people around me believed in me and my family was great. My teammates were very supportive and I just kept going."
Those struggles have helped shape Keller into the pitcher he is and it's highly unlikely for history to repeat itself. The recipe to keep that from happening is simple according to Keller.
"Just keep working hard and pushing through," Keller said. "Lean on the people that are around you and support you."