Blue Jays Open To Adding More Starting Depth, Interested in Brad Keller

[Leo Morgenstern]

The Blue Jays already have the kind of rotation depth most teams can only dream of, with Dylan Cease, Kevin Gausman, Shane Bieber, Trey Yesavage, Cody Ponce, José Berríos, and Eric Lauer on their starting pitching depth chart. Yet, Sportnet's Shi Davidi and Ben Nicholson-Smith suggest they might not be finished bolstering that group.

According to Davidi and Nicholson-Smith, the Jays are "open to adding further pitching capable of starting." One name they're interested in – who should be 'capable of starting' – is Brad Keller. 

The right-hander pitched out of the Cubs' bullpen in 2025, making 68 appearances with a 2.07 ERA and 2.93 FIP. However, he was primarily a starter for the first several years of his career. Pitching for the Royals from 2018-23, Keller started 114 games with a 4.28 ERA and 4.35 FIP. He averaged 5.2 IP per start.

Last month, Joel Sherman of The New York Post reported that Keller was generating interest "as both a starter and reliever." It's not hard to see why. He revitalized his career as a full-time reliever last year. It's tantalizing to think about him maintaining some of that newfound dominance while taking on a starter's workload.

For the Blue Jays, Keller would only transition back to the rotation as a last resort. In a best-case scenario, he would take on a high-leverage bullpen role and repeat his success from 2025. He would only need to stretch out if multiple names ahead of him on the depth chart suffered injuries. Still, the fact that he could stretch out in such a way would make him a nice insurance policy. 

If Keller is looking for a team that's going to give him a guaranteed opportunity to start again, the Blue Jays are out of luck. But if he's willing to start the year in the bullpen while staying prepared to stretch out if needed, he could be just the pickup this pitching staff needs.

Featured image courtesy of Matt Marton, Imagn Images.

View full rumor

[Spanky__99]

Olerud.363 might be right? lol

[Joltin Joe]

For the bullpen, we have 7 starters now. 

Who do we give up a young outfielder?

[jaysblue]

Could be some concerns with Bieber possibly being ready for Opening Day, and probably the Jays wanted to ease him back to begin with. He might be good for only 15-20 starts during the regular season.

Also, Yesavage is likely to have some sort of monitored workload in 2026.

 

[Laika]

I doubt they would buy high(ish) on a guy who finally broke out as a reliever, just to thrust him back into some kind of swing role 

If they want Keller I would guess it's just to be a leverage RP 

My guess is that the Jays are now shifting gears and they will wait for someone to come to them, out of two buckets. Good RP bucket and Good Bat bucket. 

Bucket 1: Keller, Weaver, Fairbanks, Seranthony, Suarez, etc. 

Bucket 2: Bo, Bregman, Bellinger, Tucker... 

[Spanky__99]

3 hours ago, jaysblue said:

Could be some concerns with Bieber possibly being ready for Opening Day, and probably the Jays wanted to ease him back to begin with. He might be good for only 15-20 starts during the regular season.

Also, Yesavage is likely to have some sort of monitored workload in 2026.