Chicago Cubs Journeyman Turning Heads With Increased Velocity in Spring Training

A Chicago Cubs pitcher is garnering attention at spring training with an impressive increase in velocity.

Feb 20, 2025; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Chicago Cubs pitcher Brad Keller against the Los Angeles Dodgers during a spring training game at Camelback Ranch-Glendale. / Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

One of the goals of the Chicago Cubs when entering the offseason was to upgrade their pitching staff.

They were on the lookout for some help in the bullpen, which was overhauled in the middle of the 2024 campaign. Also, they wanted some depth for the starting rotation.

Both of those goals were accomplished.

Veterans Matthew Boyd and Colin Rea were signed to add support behind Justin Steele, Shota Imanaga, Jameson Taillon and Javier Assad in the rotation. 

Their relief corps was upgraded in three trades with the Houston Astros, New York Yankees and Cleveland Guardians, acquiring Ryan Pressly, Cody Poteet and Eli Morgan, respectively.

Spring training will give manager Craig Counsell a chance to see how things should line up once the regular season rolls around in a few weeks.

There will be some difficult decisions to make, as other players will assuredly make a push for a role on the Major League roster.

One of the players who are already doing that in camp is veteran journeyman Brad Keller.

An eighth-round pick in the 2013 MLB Draft of the Arizona Diamondbacks, he made his MLB debut with the Kansas City Royals in 2018 at only 22 years old.

He had an incredible debut, going 9-6 across 41 appearances, with 20 starts, throwing 140.1 innings with an impressive 3.08 ERA and 96 strikeouts.

Keller moved into a full-time starter’s role and found some more mild success with the Royals, including the abbreviated 2020 campaign when he had a 2.47 ERA across 54.2 innings.

Unfortunately, he has not been able to recapture the success of his rookie season or 2020 in the years since, which has kickstarted his journeyman travels.

In 2024, he was with the Chicago White Sox and Boston Red Sox before signing a minor league deal with the Cubs this winter.

Chicago is stretching him back out to be a starter and it originally seemed like he was ticketed for a role in Triple-A. But, he is doing everything he can to catch the attention of the decision-makers as his fastball is humming early in spring training.

As shared by Tom Verducci of Sports Illustrated, his first appearance in an exhibition game provided an eye-popping jump in velocity. 

Last Friday, his four-seamer averaged 96.3 mph. That is the highest in a single game of his career that he threw at least 10 fastballs and he hit as high as 97.9 mph on the radar gun; the hardest pitch he has thrown in three years.

A tweak in his mechanics could be responsible for the uptick in velocity. With a little more bend in his right leg, he looks to be getting more power when pushing off the rubber and throwing the ball harder.

Swingman roles are always important and that could be what Keller works his way into with the Major League club if he continues performing at the level he has shown thus far.

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