Pittsburgh Pirates Ace Mitch Keller Gets Emotional Upon Learning He's Made the All-Star Team

Pittsburgh Pirates ace Mitch Keller has made the National League All-Star team. He got emotional upon learning the news in a video released by the team.

Pittsburgh Pirates ace Mitch Keller has been selected to the pitching staff for the National League All-Star team.

It will be his first All-Star selection and he'll represent the team in Seattle at the game on July 11.

You can see his emotional reaction upon getting the news from manager Derek Shelton HERE:

When all the hard work pays off 💛 pic.twitter.com/1AU4YlB6ZU

— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) July 2, 2023

The 27-year-old Iowa native has had a breakout season this year. He earned the start for the team on Opening Day, and now has this honor.

The former second-round pick (2014) of the Pirates is 9-3 this season with a 3.34 ERA. He's struck out 118 batters in 105 innings and has posted a 1.10 WHIP.

For his career, he's 21-32 with a 4.60 ERA. He's clearly taken the next step in his career and has been a major reason why the Pirates are in contention for the playoffs.

At the time of this posting, the Pirates are 39-44 and tied for third place in the National League Central. They are 5.5 games back of both the Cincinnati Reds and Milwaukee Brewers. They are tied with the Chicago Cubs and both teams are 4.0 games ahead of the St. Louis Cardinals.

The Pirates will embark to Los Angeles on Monday night for a tough series with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Game one of the series will be at 10:10 p.m. ET.

Keller will get the ball for Pittsburgh, ironically. The Dodgers have yet to name a starter for the opener and are in a bit of rotation flux as Clayon Kershaw is battling an injury.