Joe Kelly States Case To Be Part Of Red Sox’s Postseason Roster

The Boston Red Sox begin their quest for a World Series championship Friday in Game 1 of the American League Division Series at Fenway Park.

In addition to the opponent, the makeup of Boston’s postseason roster remains unknown. While the opponent will be decided in Wednesday’s Wild Card game between the Oakland Athletics and New York Yankees, the postseason roster will come later in the week.

The most glaring question is who will make the Sox’s bullpen. It’s no secret the relievers have struggled at times, particularly in the late innings. But with Matt Barnes, Craig Kimbrel and Steven Wright all likely to make the cut, that leaves less room for names like Joe Kelly.

After a stellar start to the season, the right-hander struggled mightily in the second half, posting a 9.39 ERA in 11 appearances in the month of September alone. Despite the struggles, Kelly has the most playoff experience of Boston’s relievers with 16 appearances. But is his experience alone enough for manager Alex Cora to put him on the roster?

For the right-hander, he believes his pitch choice will help him make the cut.

“I would say using certain pitches at different times a little more often. Just boil it down to sequences, make it easy on myself and the catchers,” Kelly told The Athletic’s Jen McCaffrey. “We’ve been on the same page the past couple outings so that’s good but boil it down to not trying to trick anybody and just throwing pitches.”

It will be interesting to see the route Cora takes when choosing his relievers. He has plenty of options, but that won’t make his decision any easier.