I had high hopes for Brad Keller coming into this season, but so far the ace of the Royals staff is having a tremulous relationship with the strike zone. Through the last two weeks of April, the league average for called balls sits at 36.4%. Keller’s mark of 42.9% puts him at third-worst out of hurlers who have thrown a minimum of 200 pitches since April 17th.
Why am I using April 17th as a starting point? Keller had three straight starts where his walks either matched or exceeded his strikeouts and is when things really started to go downhill.