He got unlucky a number of times, but he did himself no favors by throwing almost exclusively fastballs in the first inning. They all got good looks at it and then started touching him up in their next at-bats. He has a fastball that can successfully challenge hitters up in the zone, and indeed that's how he got his K vs Donaldson. Yet he's throwing it almost always in the lower half of the zone.
I don't think changes would make that much difference, but Searage has definitely gotta go. If he is trying to turn Keller into a pitch to contact guy, he will never succeed.
I don't think Keller is ready for MLB and would much rather see him back here when he can throw the slider with good bite on it to mix with his curve and his fastball. But the curve is supposed to be the best pitch and we barely saw it tonight. I don't think he should go back right away, but I'd give him two or three more starts, and if he keeps getting hit around like this, send him back. I do wonder if he had just gotten a break in the first inning how different things might be, but that's just hypotheticals.
