KC Royals: Brad Keller has an opportunity to prove he’s an ace in 2021
On the mound for the KC Royals on Opening Day will be Brad Keller, who is entering a massive season.
The Kansas City Royals struck gold with Brad Keller, a Rule-5 draft pick, who they initially used as a reliever during his rookie year in 2018, but later moved him to the rotation where he’s remained ever since.
Keller was terrific as a rookie, finishing the year with a 3.08 ERA through 140.1 innings of work and proving to the Royals that he could be a really good starting option moving forward. Unfortunately, his next year — his first full year as a starter — didn’t go as smoothly (injuries were partially to blame), as his ERA was 4.19 by season’s end.
Keller missed the first few weeks of the shortened 2020 season due to COVID-19 but you’d never have known anything was up with him. He was incredible last year, throwing 54.2 innings and sporting a 2.47 ERA when it was all said and done.
Royals fans felt confident after watching Keller pitch in 2020 that he could be the ace this team has been searching for since James Shields departed, but he’ll need to prove he can fill that role this year. Getting the nod on Opening Day is a nice start for Keller but what will he do with his second Opening Day start?
This year will be taxing on a lot of pitchers after not pitching a full year in 2020 so it’s important for Keller to remember it’s a marathon, not a sprint. He showed really good stuff last year and despite testing positive for COVID-19 to start the season, really took off when he was cleared to play.
The KC Royals can push for a playoff spot if Brad Keller pitches to his potential.
The other day, I wrote an article where I detailed five IFs that had to happen if Kansas City wanted to make the playoffs. One of them was Keller transitioning into a legit No. 1 starter. He’s the No. 1 starter as of now, but can he back that up on the mound? Can he go out there and put on performance after performance that shows everyone outside of Kansas City why he earned that role?
The 2021 season is massive for Keller and while he’s not in danger of losing his job or anything like that, this season will go a long way in determining what kind of pitcher he’ll be for the Kansas City Royals. Will he transform into the ace of the staff or will he become more like Danny Duffy, who always had the No. 1 role but never lived up to it?
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I can’t wait to see what Brad Keller has to offer this year.