I’ve contended for several seasons that the second wave of pitchers the Shorebirds feature is almost as important as the first. While they have a six-man rotation, they also have four or five guys who seem to have a rotation unto their own as the pitcher who covers the middle innings until the closer comes in, or finishes the game for a three-inning save. The hot hand among that group right now is Jon Keller.
Had things turned out a little differently, Keller may well be toiling somewhere in the Seattle Mariners organization – they drafted him in the 11th round in 2010 out of high school in Iowa. But the well-traveled Keller – who was born in Tennessee, went to high school in Iowa, and was drafted last year by the Orioles out of the University of Tampa in Florida – ended up waiting until the 22nd round to find out he was an Oriole.
Last year the brass took a go-slow approach with Keller, sending him to the Gulf Coast League and limiting him to just 15 1/3 innings in six appearances (five starts.) The GCL numbers wouldn’t floor you – 1-2 with a 4.11 ERA and 1.24 WHIP – but Keller only allowed 2 walks while fanning 18, and that was enough to give him a final three-inning trial at Aberdeen, where he gave up just one hit and one run. Moving up to Delmarva, therefore, was quite a leap for Keller, who doesn’t turn 22 until early August.
But he has pitched very well when called upon. In 46 innings here Jon has allowed just 30 hits and compiled a 54/12 K/BB ratio, giving him an impressive 0.91 WHIP. That explains his 3-0 record and 1.57 ERA, and the three saves have been of the lengthy variety, coming in two, two, and three inning appearances.
Given that SAL batters are hitting just .183 against him and Keller has a ground out/air out ratio of 2.38 to 1, there’s a reasonable chance that if Frederick needs a reliever Keller’s name would be called. Certainly Jon is positioning himself for a shot at Frederick’s 2015 staff. With a fairly consistent crop of Shorebird starters perhaps bumping against inning limits, we may see more of Keller in the earlier innings. Although he’s never gone more than 3 2/3 innings in his pro career (and was ineffective in that outing), getting a three-inning dose of Keller would likely put the other team out of commission.