The start that snapped Joe Kelly’s streak of eight consecutive wins will end up being the right-hander’s final outing of 2015.
Kelly left Tuesday’s matchup with the Baltimore Orioles with shoulder tightness after just 2 1/3 innings. The Red Sox went on to lose 6-5 in 13 innings, and acting manager Torey Lovullo announced the following day that Kelly had been sent back to Boston for further evaluation and would not pitch again this season.
“It’s all precautionary,” Lovullo told reporters Wednesday in Baltimore, via ESPN.com. “We want to make sure that we find out if anything is happening in there. Obviously he left the game yesterday because he was unable to get loose.”
Kelly was the second Red Sox pitcher to be shut down in as many days. Lovullo had previously announced Tuesday that reliever Junichi Tazawa would be shelved for the remainder of the season.
“At this point moving forward, it’s probably not going to be the best thing, running him back out there,” the interim skipper said Wednesday. “Much like Taz, we want to set this up for 2016 and make sure all our guys are healthy and ready for next season.”
With Kelly now done, the Red Sox will return to a traditional five-man rotation. That means a reliever likely will start a game for Boston at some point in the near future, with Lovullo naming Craig Breslow and Jonathan Aro as potential candidates.
Kelly posted a 10-6 record with a 4.82 ERA is 25 starts this season. He lowered his ERA by more than a run (1.29) over his final eight starts.
Thumbnail photo via David Butler II/USA TODAY Sports Images
