Chicago Cubs have lucked into veteran right-hander as a potential bullpen piece in 2025

Figuring out which arms will be with the team on Thursday has been a challenge for the Chicago Cubs coaching and front office following their time in Tokyo. The tough decision was made to send down reliever Eli Morgan and starter Jordan Wicks to Triple-A last week and it won’t get any easier to finalize their pitching staff in the coming days.

The bullpen was a major point of emphasis for Jed Hoyer this offseason, and he addressed it by giving young right-hander Porter Hodge some help in the later innings. Ryan Pressly was brought aboard in a trade with the Houston Astros to be Chicago’s next closer and Ryan Brasier was acquired from the Dodgers as another high leverage situation option for Craig Counsell to work with.

The middle innings in relief are still up for grabs and a non-roster invitee to Spring Training this year might have done enough to make a legitimate case to be with the team to begin the campaign.

The Chicago Cubs might have a hidden gem in Brad Keller

Brad Keller spent last year spending limited big league time with the Chicago White Sox and Boston Red Sox. In 16 outings total, he had a 5.44 ERA in 41.1 innings tossed. Keller made two starts and that’s not totally unfamiliar for him as he began his career as a starter with the Kansas City Royals in 2018. He was an eighth round draft choice of the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2013 and will be 29-years-old for most of the 2025 season.

Since joining the Cubs, Keller has been a full-time reliever and his stuff has been extremely promising. His fastball has gotten up to 98 MPH, which is more than enough to put him on notice across the baseball world. Chicago is been a place for relievers to revive careers over the past few seasons and pitching coach Tommy Hottovy is a major reason for that.

Guys like Julian Merryweather and Tyson Miller have seen their careers flip since coming to the Cubs and Keller’s potential role with the team this season could have a very similar look if he is given the opportunity. He has made six appearances out of the bullpen this spring and has a 4.22 ERA to pair with his 1.13 WHIP in 10.2 innings pitched. Keller has only walked two hitters all spring while punching out 11.

Brad Keller represents the Chicago Cubs pitching depth entering 2025

The Cubs having guys like Keller stick around camp for this long is a good problem to have. After last season went so poorly from a depth perspective in the bullpen, this is certainly a breath of fresh air for the decision makers in the organization to have to deal with a situation like this.

Keller is able to opt-out of his deal in Chicago if he doesn’t make the team and is not placed on the 40-man roster at some point soon, but it seems that the Cubs would prefer for that not to happen. There is no doubt that if he can’t be kept around that another big league club would jump on the idea of taking a flyer on the veteran to join their bullpen for the season.