Brad Keller knows his sweeper will remain a key pitch for the Philadelphia Phillies.
Brad Keller was one of the best pitchers in baseball during his first two seasons with the Kansas City Royals in 2018 and 2019.
However, everything took a downward turn after that, and the 30-year-old had to sign a minor league contract with the Chicago Cubs before the 2025 season just to re-salvage his career. Now, Keller is with the Philadelphia Phillies and signed a two-year deal, reportedly with $22 million.
Looking at what turned Keller’s career around, there’s one specific pitch he added to his arsenal for the 2025 season that brought him back to being an elite pitcher, this time out of the bullpen as a reliever rather than a starter.
"The sweeper that I introduced last year it kind of like rode the roller coaster of like sometimes it worked amazing, sometimes just like, the movement wasn't as consistent,” said Keller.
“I really just want to kind of hone that in because I felt like whenever it was on, it was a really successful pitch last year, and I kind of went through like a little low period in the middle of the season where it wasn't as sharp and as consistent movement-wise.”
Jul 26, 2025; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago Cubs pitcher Brad Keller (40) pitches during the eighth inning against the Chicago White Sox at Rate Field. Mandatory Credit: Patrick Gorski-Imagn ImagesYes, as Keller admits, there was some up and down with the pitch a year ago, but overall, his sweeper was highly effective. The pitch had a whiff-rate of 45.8 percent and a putaway rate of 24.5 percent.
Adding this piece to his aresonl has helped Keller attack left-hander, but has also worked against righties.
The pitcher continued, “bringing that in last year really helped me like, you know, handle left or righties pretty well. And so, um, and also incorporating that pitch to Lefees, me and Caleb talked about that on our zoom call. Um, when we were going through this process, but just kind of adding a different dimension of things, especially, um, you don't really ever want like one-sided hitter to like eliminate pitches off you.”
As Keller gets acclimated in Philadelphia’s bullpen, the sweeper should be a key piece to help him remain an effective pitcher.