Kevin

Kelly

Kelly is back after missing over six weeks with a left gluteal strain. He’ll return to a mid-to-late inning role with the Rays now that he’s healthy enough to do so.

Kelly will miss two weeks with the injury. The 27-year-old will be replaced on the active roster by Cole Sulser.

Pete Fairbanks pitched Tuesday and hasn’t been used on back-to-back days since coming off the IL while Jason Adam had worked four out of five days opening the door for Kelly to close this one out. The side-armer is unlikely to earn many more save opportunities with Fairbanks and Adam healthy.

With Pete Fairbanks landing on the IL, Kelly was called up to take his place. Kelly was just up with Tampa Bay until Thursday when he was demoted after allowing at least one earned run in three of his first four appearances on the season. He did have a 3.09 ERA in 67 appearances in 2023, so he should be expected to settle into a middle relief role for the time being.

We know that Fairbanks battled Reynaud’s syndrome, which is a problem that causes decreased blood flow to the fingers and obviously impacts gripping a baseball. This may be what’s caused his early-season struggles as well. We have no indication of how long he’ll be on the IL, but the Rays will undoubtedly go to a committee in his absence that features Jason Adam, Garrett Cleavinger, and Colin Poche. All of them can be added in leagues if you need saves since they should also provide solid ratios even if they don’t get a bulk of the save opportunities. Kevin Kelly was called up in a corresponding move.

Kelly appeared in four games this season for the Rays and allowed at least one earned run in three of those appearances. The 26-year-old will continue to get work down at the minors but should get some major league innings down the road as he was a big part of the team’s bullpen in 2023 when he posted a 3.09 ERA across 67 innings.

Kelley is back in the majors with swingman Tyler Alexander heading to the bereavement list ahead of Tuesday’s showdown against the Angels out in Los Angeles. The 26-year-old former Rule 5 selection made 57 appearances last year for Tampa Bay as one of the main fixtures in their bullpen mix.

Kelly was a huge part of the Rays bullpen in 2023, pitching to a 3.09 ERA and 1.02 WHIP with a 56/15 K/BB ratio in 67 innings. It appears that he has lost his bullpen spot with newly signed Phil Maton, but he should still get more than enough MLB innings in 2024.

Kelly, who has a 3.48 ERA in 54 1/3 innings this season, missed the minimum with a sprained left ankle. He’ll return to the Rays’ bullpen.

Kelly, a Rule 5 pick from the Guardians, has been an excellent pickup for the Rays, amassing a 3.48 ERA in 54 1/3 innings out of the pen. Hopefully, he’ll be back right around Sept. 1.