Kevin Kelly is proving to be yet one more diamond within the tough for the Tampa Bay Rays. Acquired from the Cleveland Guardians through the Colorado Rockies within the December 2022 Rule 5 draft, the 26-year-old right-hander has since logged a 3.14 ERA and a 3.24 FIP in 73 appearances out of the Rays bullpen. Attacking the strike zone from a low arm slot, Kelly has fanned 74 batters whereas permitting 70 hits and simply 16 walks over 86 innings.
His prospect profile was modest at finest. A Nineteenth-round decide within the 2019 draft out of James Madison College, Kelly was unranked previous to altering organizations, and going into final yr he was conservatively assigned a 40 FV and a no. 27 rating on our Rays record. Which isn’t to say that Eric Longenhagen didn’t acknowledge Kelly’s potential. Pointing to the side-slinger’s east-west arsenal and skill to maintain the ball out of the air, Longenhagen wrote that Kelly had an opportunity to stay on Tampa Bay’s roster and be “an awesome possibility out of the bullpen once you want a floor ball to get out of a jam.”
Inducing worm-killers is certainly one among Kelly’s best strengths. Per Statcast, his 48.2% floor ball charge ranked within the 78th percentile final season, and this yr he’s at present within the 91st percentile at 55.6%. And it’s not as if he doesn’t miss an affordable quantity of bats. His strikeout charge may not be something to put in writing residence about, however at 23.0% it dwells in center of the pack of main league hurlers.
In response to Tampa Bay pitching coach Kyle Snyder, the righty reliever’s success relies on a number of elements.
“There may be undoubtedly a deception element to the distinctive arm motion, to the acceleration sample,” Snyder mentioned. “His sinker, particularly proper now, is producing in all probability an additional inch and a half of [inverted vertical break] in comparison with final yr, so there may be extra depth. It’s a reasonably steep cliff. He’s been in a position to seam shift somewhat bit higher this season. His sweeper additionally generates plenty of vertical IVB, so together with the [sinker to the] arm aspect, he’s bought vertical raise on the glove aspect.”
Kelly cited two key modifications to his arsenal that helped him flip the proverbial nook and grow to be a viable huge league candidate. In 2022, Cleveland’s then Double-A pitching coach Owen Dew taught Kelly throw his sweeper. The earlier season, he began throwing his fastball a bit more durable, although its velocity continues to be reasonably pedestrian, rating among the many slowest heaters within the league at 90.7 mph. That additional oomph, he mentioned, was the results of higher conditioning.
“In faculty, I used to be 84 to 88 as a starter,” Kelly instructed me. “I used to be 88 within the first inning and often 84-86 within the sixth. Then, as soon as I bought to professional ball, I misplaced 30 kilos, which helped me transfer quicker. The much less fats you’ve bought on you, the faster you’re going to maneuver. I additionally shortened up somewhat bit — I’d been very lengthy with my arm motion — and that helped as properly.”
Kelly now carries 200 kilos — “proper on the dot” — on his 6-foot-2 body, and he propels that weight down the slope with excessive extension. At 7.4 ft, it ranks within the 98th percentile amongst his contemporaries.
“I sort of leap off the mound,” defined Kelly, who described his supply as whippy. “I suppose I get some true extension as properly, however should you watch my video you’ll be able to see from the aspect that I’m undoubtedly not your conventional ‘maintain the proper foot down the entire time and simply slowly go down.’ So, I sort of leap somewhat bit. I’ve at all times sort of had that, even after I was greater.”
The arm angle with which he delivers his three pitches — Kelly additionally throws an occasional cutter, which he realized in 2022 — has modified considerably over time. He used to throw from each a better and decrease slot, then after switching solely to a decrease slot, he noticed his arm “slowly drift down somewhat, accidentally.” He feels that this even decrease arm angle has solely helped him to get extra depth on his sinker, which he considers to be his finest pitch.
The extent to which his sinker grip is exclusive, versus uncommon and even customary, is subjective.
“It’s nothing loopy,” Kelly mentioned. “I’m good on… I suppose it is likely to be somewhat bizarre. Some persons are proper on the railroad tracks, so to talk, and I grip it the place it crosses; the horseshoe is on these fingertips. I don’t know if that’s totally different, or even when provides to the motion, however it’s what snug for me.”
That Kelly has comfortably settled into a task in an enormous league bullpen is one factor that isn’t in query. Following up properly on final yr’s profitable rookie marketing campaign, he not solely has a 3.32 ERA and a 3.77 FIP over 16 appearances comprising 19 innings, he’s punched out 18 batters and issued only one free move. As Snyder put it, “He assaults the strike zone. He’s a quiet competitor, and we’ve seen how far he’s come from being a Rule 5. And once more, he creates a really distinctive look.”
