Keaton Steele has been settling into the RailCats’ rotation.
The right-hander’s introduction was a little more hurried.
A doubleheader July 21 against St. Paul was necessitated when the previous day’s game was rained out after one inning. The RailCats won the resumed game and …
“Between games, I went over to talk to one of my buddies on the other team and they yelled from over here, ‘Hey, you’re starting,’” Steele said. “I asked, ‘When’s the game start?’ They said, ‘About 30 minutes. You have to go change jerseys, socks and hat.’ I said, ‘OK, sounds good.’”
So far, Steele has been good in a starting role after beginning the season in the bullpen.
He didn’t allow a run in his first four starts covering 16 2/3 innings — on the heels of three straight scoreless relief appearances — going 2-0. The 26-year-old from Missouri gave up six earned runs in six innings Aug. 9 at St. Paul before bouncing back Monday at the Steel Yard with two runs in 6 2/3 innings against Winnipeg.
Steele’s background both professionally and collegiately includes both starting and relieving.
He spent four seasons in the Minnesota Twins organization, reaching as high as Class AA. He pitched at Iowa Western Community College before two seasons at Missouri.
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He actually was drafted three straight years — by the Tampa Bay Rays in the 29th round in 2012, by the Kansas City Royals in the 40th round in 2013 and by the Twins in the eighth round in 2014.
Steele didn’t necessarily agree he preferred starting over relieving, saying, “I just like to pitch.” But he’s enjoyed a comfort level in the RailCats’ rotation.
“It’s just the consistency,” Steele said. “In the bullpen, sometimes you get stuck if you don’t throw a couple of days. Obviously, you want your starters to do well, but if your guy goes eight innings three starts in a row, maybe one or two or maybe three guys get work out of the bullpen and you might not be one of them.
“You have to find different ways as a reliever to get your work in. I was struggling with that at some points. I was thrust into that one start and got a few more, and it seems to be going pretty well.”
So well that the RailCats’ sense of urgency to acquire starting pitching, especially after ace Daniel Minor took his final turn July 25 before departing for Mexico, has lessened. Manager Greg Tagert has been impressed enough with Steele, as well as lefty Jeff McKenzie, to reduce the intensity of his pursuit on that front.
“We were very open about the fact we were going to look hard for a starting pitcher,” Tagert said. “We inquired — and still have — throughout the league to make sure we were as strong as possible down the stretch.
“The question that kept coming up from others, how are you going to replace Daniel? Well, you really can’t. He clearly was at the top of his game, the best in the league. But what Keaton has done, it makes things easier.”
Earlier this season, Steele was with Southern Maryland of the Atlantic League, getting released the day before games began. The manager pointed him in the direction of Gary.
Steele has gone 4-4 with a 2.88 ERA in 25 games, including those six starts, with the RailCats.
“Starting excited him,” Tagert said of Steele. “The trade-off was, did we have enough time to let him fill into the role and gradually move into the innings? Without reservation, he’s done everything we’ve asked, including accelerating getting that pitch count up quite a bit over the last few outings.”