Philadelphia Phillies reliever Brad Keller has a torn UCL and is expected to miss the rest of the season, the team announced Thursday.
If Keller undergoes surgery on his right elbow, it would keep him out a significant portion, if not all, of 2027 as well. He was placed on the 15-day injured list Thursday and said he will seek a second opinion from Dr. Keith Meister, a top specialist, before making a determination.
"It sucks, for sure," Keller said. "It was really weird because I felt good through my rehab process with my forearm. I felt good with my outing in Cincinnati. I just woke up the next day and it was really sore and it didn't progress from there."
The 30-year-old right-hander is 2-1 with a 4.02 ERA and 32 strikeouts in 31â…“ innings over 32 appearances this season. He has three saves, which ties his career high.
The second-place Phillies were already expected to be active looking to upgrade their bullpen ahead of the Aug. 3 trade deadline.
Keller spent three weeks on the IL with right forearm tendinitis. He returned last week and made one appearance on July 8 against the Reds. He pitched one scoreless inning and didn't allow a hit. He walked one and had one strikeout.
"We felt like something was kind of up because he came back and was really good and we kind of expected him to be ready to go again the next day," Phillies interim manager Don Mattingly said. "He was doing his work in the weight room and he wasn't really hurting, but we thought ... he went a little harder than you do when you're on a rehab. So, we thought the next day he'd be fine, and it just kept going day to day. Then he came in after playing catch and it was not good. That's when everything was set in motion."
He said he had an MRI after the initial injury in June and it did not show a tear. He said if the tear occurred during his outing in Cincinnati, he didn't feel it.
"I don't really recall a pitch or anything," he said. "I didn't feel it pop. It's really strange. I just woke up the next morning and it was stiff. I got a couple days off and then went and got an MRI on Monday and it showed this. It was pretty surprising news."
Keller, a nine-year veteran, signed a two-year, $22 million deal with Philadelphia over the winter to be the team's primary setup man for All-Star closer Jhoan Duran. That followed a resurgent 2025 season with the Chicago Cubs in which he compiled a 2.07 ERA in 68 appearances.
To fill his spot on the 26-man roster, the Phillies recalled Seth Johnson from Triple-A Lehigh Valley.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
