Keller secured a spot in the Pirates' Opening Day rotation and is scheduled to make his first start of the season Saturday in St. Louis, Alex Stumpf of DKPittsburghSports.com reports.
Keller appeared to be on strong footing for a rotation role heading into the spring, but he solidified his spot after submitting a 2.92 ERA, 1.46 WHIP and 12:3 K:BB across 12.1 innings over his four starts. Though Keller's results weren't eye-popping on the surface, he and the Pirates are optimistic he can take a step forward in 2022 after he tinkered with his repertoire over the winter to incorporate a new-look slider featuring more horizontal break, according to Rob Biertempfel of The Athletic. The refined slider could emerge as a much-needed reliable breaking pitch to his upper-90s fastball, as Keller has thus far struggled to find a consistent secondary offering to complement the heater during his time in the majors.