Team USA general manager Michael Hill wanted his roster to make a statement, one that affirmed the USA Baseball team as the best in the world. The lineup is filled with stars and the rotation is crammed with aces. Now, with only a handful of spots on the 30-man team left (though rosters will not be official until early February), Hill and manager Mark DeRosa have now been focused on locking down the back-end of the bullpen.
On Friday, USA Baseball announced that Phillies reliever Brad Keller will be joining Mason Miller, Griffin Jax, Gabe Speier and David Bednar for the late innings work.
Keller is coming off a breakout season with the Cubs last year, posting a career-best 2.07 ERA and 9.7 K/9. Two years removed from a Thoracic Outlet Syndrome injury, some of Keller's success can be attributed to a nearly four-mph bump in his fastball velocity last year.
That performance earned the right-hander a two-year, $22 million deal with the Phillies and a spot with Team USA.
Here's how the United States lineup looks now:
C: Cal Raleigh, Will Smith
1B: Bryce Harper
2B: Brice Turang
SS: Bobby Witt Jr., Gunnar Henderson
3B: Alex Bregman, Ernie Clement
OF: Byron Buxton, Corbin Carroll, Pete Crow-Armstrong, Aaron Judge
DH: Kyle Schwarber
P: David Bednar, Clay Holmes, Griffin Jax, Brad Keller, Clayton Kershaw, Nolan McLean, Mason Miller, Joe Ryan, Paul Skenes, Tarik Skubal, Gabe Speier, Logan Webb