Tampa Bay Rays Send Standout Rookie Reliever Kevin Kelly to Injured List

Kelly is 4-2 with a 3.48 ERA and 1.104 WHIP through 48 games this season. His last appearance came against the San Francisco Giants on Tuesday, when the right-handed sidearm specialist allowed a home run to infielder Wilmer Flores on his very first pitch of the night.

The rookie's debut season got off to a shaky start, but he was borderline dominant throughout most of the spring and summer.

After allowing six earned runs in his first five career outings, Kelly gave up just nine in his next 36. Kelly had a 2.21 ERA, 0.927 WHIP, .191 batting average against, nine holds and one save from April 21 to July 29, at one point going two whole months between earned runs allowed.

A 6.75 ERA, 1.750 WHIP and .324 batting average against in August docked Kelly's season stats a bit, but he still leads all Rays relievers with 54.1 innings pitched in 2023.

Kelly got his start as a 19th round pick by the Cleveland Indians in 2019. The former James Madison ace posted a 2.08 ERA and 1.154 WHIP across 14 appearances in rookie ball that year, only for his entire 2020 season to get canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Although Kelly's ERA ballooned to 4.66 in High-A in 2021, his WHIP actually dropped to 1.143. Kelly took another step forward in 2022, going 5-2 with a 2.04 ERA and 1.116 WHIP in Double-A and Triple-A.

The Colorado Rockies poached Kelly from the Guardians in December's Rule 5 Draft, then traded him to the Rays for cash considerations the next day.

Kelly made the Rays' Opening Day roster and never looked back, but his recent injury will knock him out until Sept. 1 at the earliest.

The Rays already had a shortened rotation on their hands, with ace Shane McClanahan set to undergo Tommy John surgery next week. Drew Rasmussen and Jeffrey Springs had previously undergone season-ending surgeries of their own, leaving even more innings on the table for Tampa Bay's bullpen.

In the lineup, outfielder Manuel Margot just hit the 10-day injured list, while catcher Francisco Mejia and infielder Taylor Walls are both still working their way off of it. Star shortstop Wander Franco is also on the restricted list amid in MLB investigation into his alleged involvement in an inappropriate relationship with a minor.

Tampa Bay is facing a critical seven-week stretch ahead of the postseason, trailing the Baltimore Orioles by 3.0 games for first place in the AL East. With the injuries piling up, not even the Rays' 6.5-game cushion in the AL Wild Card race feels particularly safe.