Boston Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow signed additional bullpen depth over Memorial Day weekend. Boston's newest acquisition played against Baltimore on May 27, the day after he signed with his new club.
Brad Keller appeared in five games with the Chicago White Sox before he was designated for assignment on May 20. Keller elected free agency rather than another stint in Chicago's minor-league system, where he signed in the offseason.
The righty's Red Sox debut wasn't ideal, either, though. Boston pitched him for four innings against the hot-hitting Orioles and the hurler allowed four runs on seven hits and a walk. Keller also struck out two batters, but Baltimore's bats were tough for the Sox's pitching as a whole. He was the only reliever used after Cooper Criswell's worst showing of the year, where he allowed six runs over four innings.
His outing against the Orioles raised his ERA to 5.66. Keller logged a 4.86 ERA in his five appearances with the White Sox, which includes two starts. He collected 13 strikeouts, six walks and allowed five homers in Chicago (mostly inflated when he got tattooed against the Yankees in his final start with the club).
Red Sox's newest pitcher Brad Keller had a rough first outing with the club
"He can go more than one inning." @PeteAbe with a very quick analysis of the Red Sox newest acquisition, Brad Keller.@adampellerin | #RedSox pic.twitter.com/ERjxrO12ow
— NESN (@NESN) May 26, 2024
The Red Sox optioned fellow reliever Zack Kelly to Worcester to accommodate Keller. Kelly was called up to Boston on April 24 with a 0.00 ERA, which he maintained through three appearances with the Sox. Kelly's ERA was up to a still-great 2.16 after 16.2 innings with Boston.
Keller spent six years with the Kansas City Royals organization, mostly as a starter. He collected a 4.27 ERA over 679 innings with the Royals and a 4.50 ERA with the White Sox's Triple-A affiliate in 2024.
The righty said he signed with the Red Sox due to their growing pitcher development skill. There are a few Boston hurlers posting career numbers a third of the way through the 2024 season, and Keller hopes to turn his career around with Boston's training staff, but we can't say he was put in the best position to succeed from the jump.