Joe Kelly has picked up right where he left off at the end of 2015. The right-hander has dominated during spring training and the Boston Red Sox should be optimistic about his ability to pitch behind ace David Price in any spot of the rotation as lefty Eduardo Rodriguez will start the 2016 MLB season on the disabled list.
Kelly was impressive yet again Thursday against the New York Mets' split squad. He allowed just one run on five hits over seven innings and didn't give up a hit until the fifth inning. He threw 49 of his 75 pitches for strikes and rung up six batters on the day.
He's now 3-0 with a 1.35 ERA, 1.20 WHIP and 18 strikeouts in five starts this spring.
Kelly, who was acquired from the St. Louis Cardinals at the 2014 trade deadline, finished the 2015 season like the Joe Kelly of 2013. The 27-year-old went 8-0 in his final nine starts and maintained a 3.00 ERA over that span, which included two lackluster outings in which he allowed eight earned runs over just 7-1/3 innings.
Those two starts came against AL East opponents, and he performed poorly against them for most of the year, so he'll have to fix that heading into 2016. But aside from that, the Red Sox should be confident he'll be a capable and reliable starter despite the fact many believe David Price is the only suitable arm in the rotation as Opening Day approaches.
"Some scouts assigned to watch the Red Sox don't think the team should be too excited about its starting pitching beyond Price," writes Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe.
Well, Kelly's got a fan in manager John Farrell.
"He threw the ball exceptional today," he said after today's game. "Even when he missed, he was missing to quality locations. He used different types of breaking ball when behind in the count. Settled into a good rhythm, carried it through the seven innings. Very efficient. A positive day for Joe."
Let's not forget Kelly has only spent two full seasons as a starter after making 30 relief appearances in 61 games for the Cardinals from 2012-2013. He still has some work to do in terms of stretching out his ability to pitch more effectively and deeper into games (he's averaged just 5.6 innings per start in his career and only 5.49 innings over the past two seasons as a full-timer).
But if the end of last season and this spring were any indication of things to come, Farrell and the Red Sox won't have to worry much about Kelly and will instead need to focus their efforts on Rick Porcello and Clay Buchholz.
