The Red Sox Will Be Using Joe Kelly Out Of The Bullpen When He Returns
John Lackey isn’t even on the Cardinals anymore, and St. Louis is still winning the Allen Craig and Joe Kelly for Lackey trade.
The Red Sox traded Lackey to the Cardinals for Allen Craig, the guy who led the MLB in batting average with runners in scoring position in 2013 (.454), and Joe Kelly, the starting pitcher who had a 2.69 ERA in that same year. What the Red Sox actually got in return was Allen Craig, the minor league outfielder who isn’t even on the 40-man roster anymore, and Joe Kelly, the shitty starting pitcher, who has been on the DL twice since he got to Boston, who also has been demoted twice for sucking, but apparently is now going to be a relief pitcher again. Cool. Good deal.
How do I feel about Joe Kelly to the bullpen? Fuckin’ might as well, right? The guy’s soft as baby shit, so I’m not trusting him in late and close situations right out of the gate, if ever. Between all of the DL stints and demotions for poor performance, he’s spent more time blocking Red Sox fans on Twitter for being mean to him than he’s spent on the mound for the Red Sox.
The initial reaction has been that this move makes sense, because Kelly can hit 100 MPH on the radar gun, so that’ll translate well in a bullpen role. Is that even true? I don’t think it is. I don’t care how fast you throw — if there isn’t any movement on the fastball, major league hitters are going to time that, and hammer it. But perhaps, more importantly, if you can’t control your 100 MPH fastball, then what good does that really do you?
I’m getting the sense that some fans think that Kelly to the bullpen is some sort of genius idea, but he was already a relief pitcher in his major league career during his time with the Cardinals — people forget that — and the numbers really aren’t all that impressive. In 52.2 innings as a reliever, he’s given up 57 hits and 14 walks, which equates to a WHIP of 1.348. That’s fucking terrible for a reliever. If there’s any upside to this move, it’s that Kelly has a mark of 8.4 strikeouts per nine innings as a reliever, compared to 6.4 strikeouts per nine innings as a starter. So, at least we have that.
But, like I said when word came down that he was going to the bullpen, he allows way too many base runners to be an effective reliever. Sure, he can strike out the side, but that’s with two walks, a double and a single mixed in between. So, yeah. File me under the “I’m not that excited about Joe Kelly going to the bullpen, but where the fuck else are they going to put him?” category.