Mitch Keller

Mitch Keller threw seven shutout innings in a win over the Cardinals on Wednesday, allowing just five hits while striking out seven and walking one.

Keller’s name has come up in trade rumors repeatedly in recent weeks, especially linked to the Chicago Cubs, so this was a nice audition for him. He didn’t miss many bats with just an 18 percent whiff rate, but he had a 25 percent CSW on the back of strong command of his four-seam, sinker, and slider. The average exit velocity on balls in play off Keller was almost 93 mph, so this feels like a game where he got a little bit lucky. He’ll take a 3.64 ERA into a start against the Royals next week.