PHILADELPHIA -- Brad Keller got a taste of two things this past season that has him excited about 2026:
- He pitched as a full-time reliever for the first time.
- He pitched in the postseason for the first time.
Keller, 30, signed a two-year, $22 million contract with the Phillies on Thursday after a strong season in the Cubs' relief corps, sparking a bullpen shakeup. The next day, the Phillies traded left-hander Matt Strahm to the Royals for right-hander Jonathan Bowlan and traded Minor League outfielder Avery Owusu-Asiedu to the Diamondbacks for left-hander Kyle Backhus.
Keller and left-hander José Alvarado are due to set up for closer Jhoan Duran.
“Last year was my first taste of really winning, being in a winning organization and getting a chance to pitch in the postseason,” Keller said. “I told my agent as I went through this process, once you get a taste of that, that’s what you crave every single year. It was such an awesome experience. That’s something I want to do, year in and year out. And I feel like Philly gives you a really good opportunity for that.”
Keller went 4-2 with a 2.07 ERA, 0.96 WHIP and .182 opponents’ batting average in 68 appearances last season with the Cubs. He struck out 75 and walked 22 in 69 2/3 innings. He ranked 14th out of 144 qualified relievers (minimum 50 innings) in ERA. He ranked 17th in opponents’ batting average and 20th in WHIP.
He began his career as a starter with the Royals. He had thoracic outlet syndrome surgery in October 2023 -- similar to the one Phillies ace Zack Wheeler had in September. Keller struggled in 2024 with the White Sox and Red Sox. He signed a Minor League deal with the Cubs in the spring to be a starter.
Chicago asked him in March if he’d be interested in shorter stints as a reliever.
He said yes.
“I loved it,” Keller said. “It was an awesome adjustment.”
His four-seam fastball averaged a career-best 97.2 mph last season. That same offering averaged 93.8 mph in 2024.
“I think health played a big part into the velo jump,” Keller said. “I know you always get a jump when you go to the bullpen … but I wouldn’t say I expected a 4 mph jump, that was pretty cool. But I did feel like I worked really hard. I cleaned up a lot of mechanical things.”
Keller said his thoracic outlet surgery was more vascular related than neurogenic related, which is noteworthy because Wheeler had venous TOS surgery in the fall. Venous TOS has a different diagnosis with a different long-range outlook than neurogenic TOS.
The neurogenic version is the type that ultimately derailed Stephen Strasburg's career and led to his early retirement. Merrill Kelly, like Wheeler, had the venous version in Sept. 2020.
Kelly was ready to pitch by Spring Training 2021 and made 26 starts that season.
“I had more of vascular, as well,” Keller said. “My hand would swell up a lot. My hand would go white, like pale. There’s just no blood flow. There was some nerve-y issue, but I always think there’s a little variance of both when it comes in. Mine was mostly the vascular, where it just felt like my whole arm was super swollen. I felt like I couldn’t hold onto the baseball.
“I really didn’t start feeling like myself until the All-Star break [in 2024]. Granted, I kind of rushed my rehab because I had surgery in the offseason and I was a free agent that year. I really tried to be with a team and finish rehab with a team. My first couple outings that year [with the White Sox], I was sitting 90 mph.”
It was 96 mph by midseason. It wasn’t enough to secure a big league deal last offseason. But he got one this winter with the Phillies, who will be expecting him to be a lockdown, late-inning reliever.
“There’s nothing like the adrenaline spike when the phone rings and your name’s called,” Keller said.