PHILADELPHIA — During the toughest moments, after the second elbow surgery in only 15 months, Brian Keller had legitimate doubts. The former 39th-round draft pick who took his career to Japan in 2023 needed Tommy John surgery that August. The next October, when the rehab from the first procedure was done, he underwent a nerve transposition.
The right-hander still didn’t feel quite right following that surgery. It made him question his career — and whether it had reached a dead end.
“Just not knowing,” Keller said. “Not knowing if all this work is going to be for nothing. At one point, I was like, ‘I don’t know if I’m ever going to play again.’ Just not knowing.”
But nearly three years later, Keller is back on the field, he’s healthy, and he’s turned his career around. And on Saturday at Citizens Bank Park, he’s expected to finally break into the big leagues.
Keller joined the Phillies on Friday, and interim manager Don Mattingly said the team plans to officially purchase his contract and activate him for the second of a three-game series against the Yankees. Mattingly did not reveal whether Keller would start or be available as a bulk reliever. But 10 years after he was taken by New York with the 1,178th pick in the draft, Keller will finally fulfill a lifelong goal.
Asked about his major-league opportunity on Friday, the 32-year-old couldn’t help but smile.
“It’s just a dream come true,” Keller told Phillies Nation. “Just an awesome team, awesome facilities, awesome stadium. Just so excited.”
After four collegiate seasons at Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Keller was selected by the Yankees in 2016 and pitched in the organization until 2021. He spent the 2022 season in Triple-A with the Red Sox. Keller then signed with Japan’s Hanshin Tigers in 2023, but he got injured three starts into his tenure.
Keller had to undergo Tommy John surgery and the subsequent process. It didn’t fix everything, so he paid out of pocket for the nerve surgery. He missed all of the 2024 and 2025 seasons recovering and grinding.
In May, the Phillies signed Keller to a minor-league contract to serve as an organizational depth piece. He started at the team’s training complex in Florida before moving up to Triple-A Lehigh Valley. In eight starts with the IronPigs, he had a 2.23 ERA. Keller added a new sinker this year, and it proved to be a bigger help than he anticipated. He found success attacking hitters in the International League.
“I think that first month or so was just kind of getting my feet wet,” Keller said, “getting in the rhythm of affiliated baseball again. Then once I had somewhat of a baseline of where I was at and who I was as a pitcher, I kind of found a plan about how to use my stuff and basically just sticking with that plan and making little adjustments here or there.”
The Phillies (56-48) optioned right-hander Alan Rangel on Monday, a day after his recent four-inning, five-run outing. That left Philadelphia without a fifth starter to pitch on Saturday. Keller is in line to help fill the spot in some way, at least for one turn. Mattingly said the reports he’s received on the pitcher were “pretty good.”
“A guy that’s kind of taken that route through the minors and into Japan,” Mattingly said. “And Japan, those guys have come back pretty pretty good coming out of there. So we’ll see. But he’s been throwing the ball good.”
Keller was on the road in Indianapolis when IronPigs manager Chris Adamson texted him to get to Victory Field as soon as possible on Thursday. He had a hunch he knew what it was before he entered Adamson’s office, and his sense was spot on. Keller got the call to fly to Philadelphia.
Being at the major-league stadium and working with the team on Friday was “amazing,” Keller said, but competing in an actual game, if he indeed pitches Saturday, will be a whole new experience. He’ll have “a crew” of family and friends on hand. Considering the journey that preceded the occasion, he doesn’t want to try to do too much out there.
“I’m just going to try and take it all in and stay within myself,” Keller said. “Keep doing what got me here. Make adjustments when I need to. But for the most part, I want to play my game. I can truly test how I am as a pitcher if I truly stick to what I can do best, and that’s the version of me that I want to come out on the big-league mound.”
Even if Keller just has a one-game cameo with the Phillies, who could certainly consider rotation upgrades at the Aug. 3 trade deadline, it will be an enormous personal accomplishment. Reaching the majors was far from a guarantee for him. Through the injuries and the lost seasons, Keller continued to push.
“I suppose I just kept going,” Keller said, “and here we are.”
