Diabetes doesn't slow down pro prospect Keller

CEDAR RAPIDS - Moms know.

It was Jon Keller's freshman year at Cedar Rapids Xavier High School, and his mother, Joni, had a feeling there was something physically wrong with him.

“I think it was November, a week before basketball practice started,” said Al Keller, Jon's father. “My wife noticed some things going on. Jon was urinating a lot, drinking a lot. She just thought something wasn't right.”

Joni Keller hopped online and did some research on her son's symptoms. She narrowed her diagnosis to two things: leukemia or diabetes.

Doctors were seen and tests done. Mom knew.

It was Type 1 diabetes.

“When we found out, I had no idea on earth what it was,” Jon Keller said. “I was a little scared there.

“But it has just become part of my everyday life.”

Someone initially told Jon he wouldn't be able to play athletics any more, which was devastating. But his primary physician said that wasn't true.

If he could manage his disease well, there was no reason he couldn't continue playing sports. That's what he has done, developing into one of Iowa's top professional baseball prospects.

Keller took part this weekend at Perfect Game USA's Spring Top Prospect Showcase at Memorial Stadium. He was one of 84 players from 12 states, Canada and the Dominican Republic to show off for pro scouts.

A 6-foot-5 right-handed pitcher, Keller has flashed a low-90s fastball in a Perfect Game spring league and private workouts for scouts. He has committed to play college baseball next year at Nebraska, joining former Cedar Rapids Washington all-stater Chad Christensen and Cedar Rapids Kennedy senior Austin Christensen.

That may or may not happen, depending on where he is selected in June's Major League Baseball draft.

“It's been a fun ride,” said Al Keller. “It's more than I dreamed for my son.”

“I've had in-home visits with about 15 or 16 scouts,” Jon Keller said. “They just talk about their minor leagues and stuff. They ask some tough questions, things like who is the toughest hitter you've faced? The first one I did I was really nervous for it. I didn't know what to expect.”

Of course, the scouts bring up his diabetes. Keller has role models in the pro sports world who are diabetic: quarterback Jay Cutler of the NFL's Chicago Bears, Adam Morrison of the NBA's Los Angeles Lakers and pitcher Brandon Morrow of the Toronto Blue Jays.

He gives himself insulin shots as few as three times a day and as many as nine or 10. His Xavier teammates know his condition and he allows them to inject him from time to time, believe it or not.

“Guys that don't know me think I'm doing steroids or something,” he laughed.

Keller said he knows when his blood-sugar is low because he'll start sweating and get a “really weird feeling.” Sometimes his hands begin shaking.

But that's what it's like being a diabetic. Keller is determined not to let the disease control his life.

“It's just one more thing that he's got to deal with,” Al Keller said. “No, he doesn't like it. But he deals with it. Just look at Jon. He doesn't slow down.”

“There's so much responsibility (dealing with diabetes),” Jon said. “But I think this shows that you can do whatever you want."

Cedar Rapids Xavier's Jon Keller lets go with a pitch Sunday during a spring showcase baseball event sponsored by Perfect Game USA at Veterans Memorial Stadium.