Brad Keller's dominance has been an unexpected weapon for the Cubs

Chicago Cubs pitcher Brad Keller is in the middle of one of the best stretches of his career as a reliever.

Since he surrendered four earned runs to the Los Angeles Dodgers on April 22, Keller has turned in 16-straight scoreless outings out of Chicago's bullpen. The game against the Dodgers was just one of three times in Keller's first 25 games when he has allowed an earned run to score. After helping seal a sweep against the Colorado Rockies on Wednesday, Keller now has eight holds, 28 strikeouts, and a 2.30 ERA in 27.1 innings pitched this year.

Keller is now firmly within Manager Craig Counsell's circle of trust, and his uptick in velocity (96.9 mph) and groundball rate (61.1%) have made him arguably the team's primary setup man. Keller's career turnaround is partially a testament to the Cubs' pitching infrastructure because the 29-year-old's career was in dire straits before coming to Chicago. After battling a series of injuries from 2022-23, Keller spent most of 2024 struggling with poor performance, which got him sent to the Red Sox's Triple-A affiliate multiple times before he was granted free agency after the season.

The Cubs took a chance when they brought in Keller last January, inking him to a minor league contract with an opt-out after Spring Training. The Cubs could have easily let Keller exercise that opt-out, but they bet on his success when they added him to the active roster to see if he could replicate his solid Spring Training performance (3.86 ERA).

The Cubs have done a great job identifying and implementing quality pitchers this year. In addition to Keller, Drew Pomeranz (0.00), Chris Flexen (0.00), and Caleb Thielbar (2.29) have also been instrumental outside additions in Chicago's bullpen success. Daniel Palencia has also taken a major step forward in his development to the point where he is trustworthy in the ninth inning. The team's pitching development has been on a roll, and I'm eager to see how the new addition Génesis Cabrera fares in blue pinstripes.