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While Tuesday is an unfortunate reminder of the fact that the Kansas City Royals aren’t in the postseason, any fan looking for a reason to still pay attention to the playoffs needs to look no further than former Kauffman denizen and starting pitcher Brad Keller<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Keller has spent the 2025 season with the Chicago Cubs after making the team as a non-roster invitee in the spring. He’s also found a new lease on life<\/a> as a reliever. Initially, he was a middle-inning reliever, but as the season’s gone on and he continued to throw 100 mph dots past hitters, he’s graduated to the Cubs’ closer.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n That’s the spot Keller found himself on Tuesday afternoon when he took the mound for the Cubs in the top of the ninth inning at Wrigley Field. His job was to lock down the game and shut down the San Diego Padres. He did just that, holding a 3-1 lead by striking out one and not allowing a base runner as the former Kansas City Royals hurler recorded the save<\/a>. The Cubs took a 1-game-to-none lead in the best-of-three NL Wild Card series.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Brad Keller, 97mph Paint. \ud83d\udd8c\ufe0f\ud83c\udfa8 pic.twitter.com\/IXulaAzPDG<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) September 30, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n <\/p>\n Interestingly enough, while one former Royals friend was closing things out, it was a familiar foe who kicked things off. <\/p>\n <\/p>\nFormer Royals pitcher plays ninth inning hero for former foe’s strong start in NL Wild Card<\/h2>\n
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