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See the full story · 1 sourcesMitch Keller Injury Update: Pirates Pitcher Dealt Devastating Blow to Season originally appeared on SportsNet Pittsburgh .
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While the Pirates added several key pitchers at the trade deadline, they did lose one of their more reliable starters on the same day.
Pittsburgh placed Mitch Keller on the injured list on Monday, and the expectation is that the starter will not be back on the mound any time soon. Keller has been one of the Pirates' more durable pitchers in the last few years, and this his first notable injury since the 2022 season.
As the Pirates make a playoff push, they will have do so without one of their longest-tenured players. The Pirates drafted Keller in the 2014 second round and made his debut with the major-league team during the 2019 season.
Keller is in the third-year of a five-year, $77 million contract extension, so despite the injury he remains a key member of the rotation moving forward. Here's what Ben Cherington said about Keller's injury.
Mitch Keller Injury Update
Pirates general manager Ben Cherington announced on Monday that Mitch Keller will be out for the season with a right arm teres major muscle injury. Keller was placed on the 60-day injured list, but is expected to make a full recovery.
"This is something he will recover from, but it's going to take some time," Cherington said, via the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette . "Odds are he's not going to pitch in 2026. I think the goal now is just helping him get to a spot where he's having a really good offseason and he's going into 2027 feeling really good and in a better spot than he has been of late."
The Pirates discovered the injury after Keller's last start against the Reds, when Keller allowed seven runs in four innings. Keller then told the team about his injury and had an MRI on Monday which revealed the serious injury.
Keller will be shut down from throwing for the forseeable future, and it's unlikely he will rehab in time to return in the postseason if the Pirates make the playoffs. However, he should be fully healthy by the time spring training comes in 2027.
Previously, Keller had been an extremely durable player, appearing in either 31 or 32 games in each of the last four seasons. He is one of just 10 pitchers to throw at least 700 innings between the 2022 and 2025 seasons, and only four of those starters appeared in more games than Keller in that span.
Mitch Keller 2026 stats
Games : 22
Record : 6-8
ERA : 5.29
WHIP : 1.375
Innings : 115.2
Strikeouts : 89
Keller has made 22 starts this season, pitching to a 6-8 record and 5.29 ERA in that span. It will mark the fewest games Keller pitched in his career he 2020 season, when he appeared in just five games for the Pirates.
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