In his return to the Red Sox rotation, Joe Kelly struck out seven and allowed only one hit in seven innings of work.
With everyone talking about Clay Buchholz and Eduardo Rodriguez regarding the rotation spots, it seemed that it was a fact that Joe Kelly was going to come out of the bullpen once he returned from his DL stint.
Kelly was sent to the DL on April 19 with a shoulder injury, but his last Pawtucket start was encouraging. The righty pitched through 6.1 scoreless innings and 10 strikeouts to end his AAA rehab with a 1.26 ERA in three starts.
Even though Kelly ended his 2015 season on a high note, expectations were low for today’s game. His AAA stint showed signs of promise, but it wasn’t enough for the fans or media to be excited about his return. With the news of E-Rod being out for an indefinite amount of time, the Red Sox rotation needed Kelly to step up and he did more than that.
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He dominated the Cleveland Indians over 6.2 innings with his best stuff so far. For a moment it seemed that Kelly kept his momentum going from last season. He retired the first 13 batters he faced, recording five strikeouts and six ground outs.
Before you even think “Well, it was against the Indians”, keep in mind that Cleveland has been one of the best American League teams so far and entered this game one game behind the White Sox in the AL Central. With last night’s win against the Red Sox, the Indians had won five straight and seven of their last ten, averaging 6.5 runs over that stretch.
The Red Sox also gave Kelly four runs to work with thanks to singles from Xander Bogaerts and Hanley Ramirez and a solo shot from Mookie Betts. His only weak inning came in the fifth when he issued three walks to Carlos Santana, Marlon Byrd and Lonnie Chisenhall, but after Dustin Pedroia talked to him he retired Chris Gimenez to end the inning.
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Kelly’s fastball was in the high 90’s most of the time, proving that he was healthy and ready to stay in the rotation. Carrying a perfect game into the fifth inning, Kelly answered a lot of questions about the pitching staff.
Even though E-Rod might still be a better option, if the righty keeps pitching this way the rotation will be just fine.
Now all eyes are focusing on Buchholz, who has shown signs of hope from time to time, but still has yet to pitch back-to-back decent games. If Kelly keeps pitching this way for the next two starts, it would be fair to ask what Buchholz’ role is with the Red Sox.
Boston is officially a contender after having two last-place seasons and if they want to keep up with this pace for the next four months, they have to make difficult decisions with David Price, Steven Wright, Rick Porcello and Kelly exceeding expectations and Buchholz being a disappointment.
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Ever since the Cardinals traded Kelly and Allen Craig to the Red Sox we’ve all been aware of the righty’s potential, but it wasn’t fully shown until the second half of last season. The 27-year old pitcher will no longer look as a fluke case if he keeps exceeding the expectations everyone has of him.