After a disappointing 2024 campaign, Brad Keller bounced back this past season with the Cubs. Geoff Stellfox / Getty Images
The Philadelphia Phillies added much-needed righty relief to their bullpen, agreeing on Wednesday to a two-year, $22 million contract with right-hander Brad Keller, league sources told The Athletic.
Signed as a non-roster invite by the Cubs before the 2025 season, Keller, who ranked No. 36 on The Athletic’s Big Board and was projected by Tim Britton to receive a three-year deal worth $30 million, had a breakout year. The righty made 68 appearances (69 2/3 innings pitched), posted a 2.07 ERA with impressive peripherals and emerged as one of the best relievers for a playoff team.
Keller’s deal is pending a physical.
A starter for much of his career, Keller saw his stuff tick up out of the bullpen. His four-seam fastball, the only pitch in his arsenal he used more than 20 percent of the time (42.6 percent), sat at 97.2 mph after never averaging above 95 mph in any prior season.
Despite the move to the pen, he fully leveraged his starter’s arsenal. Keller’s sweeper emerged as his best swing-and-miss pitch to righties and the changeup to lefties. He still utilized his sinker regularly, leading to great groundball numbers. Overall, Keller did everything asked of a pitcher: He missed bats (career-high 27.2 percent strikeout rate), limited free passes (8 percent walk rate) and maintained his strong groundball rate (56.1 percent).
Keller’s transformation began after he was released by the Chicago White Sox in the middle of the 2024 season. The Boston Red Sox added Keller and helped refine his delivery as he started to use his lower half more efficiently. The process continued with the Cubs last spring and Keller immediately impressed in camp, flashing upper-90s heat and quickly opening eyes and forcing his way onto the roster.
It wasn’t long before he was getting high-leverage outs for a team that went on to win 92 games and pushed the Milwaukee Brewers, who led MLB in wins, to five games in the NLDS. Despite racking up just three saves in the regular season, Keller was tasked with the ninth in the postseason, picking up two saves while working 5 2/3 innings with a 1.59 ERA.
