5 Trade Options Phillies Can Go After Following Brad Keller’s Season-Ending Injury

It is no secret that one of the Phillies’ biggest holes this season has been the bullpen. While All-Star Jhoan Duran has been a top-three closer in baseball this season, holding a 1.38 ERA with 24 saves this year, the rest of the bullpen has not performed as well.

Now Duran certainly isn’t the only reliever performing well this season; Orion Kerkering has been solid this year after a tragic ending to last season, and Jonathan Bowlan has been a revelation for the Phillies this year. Outside of those three, there really isn’t any other reliever that can be penciled in as having a good season, or good enough to be trusted in October.

This is where Brad Keller was supposed to come in. Signed this past off-season to a two-year $22 million deal, the hope was that he would continue the success he had in 2025 as a setup man for the Chicago Cubs and be one of the Phillies setup men. Keller, now, is on the 15-day injured list with a right elbow UCL tear. He is likely to miss the remainder of the season.

Keller, while not amazing this year, pitched to a 4.02 ERA in 32 appearances and was still a valuable member of a bullpen that has lacked depth. Not because the President of Baseball Operations Dave Dombrowski did not attempt to create depth in the bullpen, he did, signing several players to fill out the minors to come in as firemen when smoke begins to arise in the majors, which always happens. The problem the depth has is that too many arms that the Phillies rightfully placed into important roles, such as Tanner Banks, Jose Alvarado, and now a missing Keller, the arms Dombrowski brought in can’t take over all those important roles as setup men and top arms.

What Keller’s season-ending injury has caused is having to acquire multiple arms at the deadline. So Dombrowski cannot only go after a big name like Aroldis Chapman; he has to get multiple players who are worse but good, so that the bullpen gets their setup man but fills out the whole pen.

Here are 5 bullpen arms the Phillies should go after ahead of Aug. 3’s trade deadline, building off of my previous deadline preview:

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Wandy Peralta, LHP – San Diego Padres

One of the major positives the Padres have had in a not-so-stellar season is the success of their bullpen, specifically the lefty trio of Yuki Matsui, Peralta, and Adrian Morejon. All 3 having successful seasons and options the Phillies should go after.

Now, Matsui is my option in the last trade deadline article, some of the reasons being his age at only 30 years old, his success having a sub-3 ERA, and his contract, cheap and under control for two seasons after this one.

Peralta’s value is that he has been the best out of the three Padres lefties, pitching to the best ERA at 2.23 while only having three fewer appearances at 41 compared to the appearance leader of the group, Adrian Morejon, at 44.

The success Peralta has had this season has been the magnum opus of his underrated 2020s. In six seasons since the start of 2020, he has only pitched to a 3.30 ERA or higher in two seasons. He pitched to a 5.40 ERA in 2021, an ERA thrown in ten games with the San Francisco Giants, before throwing to a 2.95 ERA in 46 appearances with the New York Yankees. He also pitched to a 3.99 ERA in 2024 with the Padres. Every other season, he has pitched to a sub-3.30 ERA.

Peralta is also in Year 3 of a 4-year deal he signed with the Padres, so he would be available for the Phillies next season.

Daniel Lynch IV, LHP – Kansas City Royals

Lynch has been a wonderful sight for what has been a dull Kansas City Royals team this season. In 39 games, he has pitched to a 2.35 ERA. Excellent numbers for a Royals pen whose two next best ERAs with a minimum of 20 innings pitched are John Schreiber‘s 3.47 and Steven Cruz‘s 4.88

It is safe to say the best bullpen arm that the Royals have, a team that is undoubtedly sellers this year, is Lynch.

Lynch is a very simple case; he will be cheap because he’s a smaller name compared to other arms available, he’s only 29 and is arbitration eligible, and isn’t a free agent until 2029.

Kirby Yates, RHP – Los Angeles Angels

Yates is a very fascinating name on this list. A textbook example of a rental and a player to be brought in with multiple arms.

Yates is a 39-year-old veteran who is having a bounce-back season in LA. He spent 2025 with the Dodgers and was terrible, pitching to a 5.23 ERA in 50 appearances. This season with the Angels, he has a 3.00 ERA in 24 appearances.

It is also not out of the ordinary for Dombrowski to go after older talent with past success. The Phillies’ big bullpen addition in the 2022 pennant-winning season was 37-year-old David Robertson, who pitched to a 2.70 ERA in 22 games for the Phillies that year.

Yates is the highest-risk pick out of these five, simply due to how old he is and coming off a five-plus ERA last season, but he has the success this year, and the cheapness that adding him among other arms could be a very underrated addition.

JT Brubaker, RHP – San Francisco Giants

Brubaker is like all these pitchers, one of the bright spots on teams struggling this season and set to sell at the deadline. Brubaker is 32 years old and has been pitching to a 2.87 ERA in 30 games, bumping his innings up to 47, showing an ability to add length.

The issue that Brubaker has this season is concerned about whether he can continue his success. The only other season he has had a sub-3.40 ERA was in 12 games he threw for the Yankees last season. Now, his two best stretches being this season and last, could mitigate that concern and open up a potentially very valuable arm for a bullpen that consistently uses guys for 1 inning, outside of blowouts.

Brock Burke, LHP – Cincinnati Reds

The Reds have easily been one of the most disappointing teams this season. Coming off a surprise Wild Card appearance in 2025, they did not improve the team and have struggled following it. However, one of those additions that has worked out well is the lefty Burke.

Burke, 29, is pitching to a 3.02 ERA and a league-leading 47 appearances this year. He was also a member of the 2023 World Series-winning Texas Rangers team, so he would provide valuable postseason experience, which is severely lacking in this Phillies bullpen.

Burke is a free agent after the season, so, like Yates, would be a textbook rental. However, unlike Yates, is young enough that his current success is very reasonably able to be replicated in future seasons.

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