Mound Visit: A look at the early returns on Keller’s ‘stuff’

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- Mitch Keller, the top prospect in the Pirates' system, has debuted this year — much earlier than expected. The 23-year-old has just 21 AAA starts over two seasons, so with such a rushed timetable, how are we to properly judge our first look at a hurler who, at the very least, is projected to slide in as a rotation anchor?

Keller has had a rocky go of things over his first three starts. Incremental improvement has been seen, to be sure. Yet, 12 innings is simply not enough to form any logical conclusions about the young right-hander.

But what we might just be able to do with this small set of data is offer a few educated opinions on the state of his "stuff."

That term is…