Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora provided the latest on relief pitcher Zack Kelly.
After going down with what was initially described as “right elbow pain,” during an appearance against the Tampa Bay Rays last Wednesday, Cora, alongside a team trainer, rushed to Kelly, who was in noticeable pain after hitting the deck on the mound. He was off the field and into Boston’s clubhouse.
Cora offered an update on the 28-year-old before Boston hosted the Minnesota Twins at Fenway Park for their 7:10 p.m. ET. scheduled contest Wednesday night.
“He’s gonna have surgery,” Cora told reporters. “We have to wait I think as far as surgery. The doctor, he’s backtracked with all that stuff. So we have to wait but you know, he’ll be out for a while.”
Cora also mentioned that Kelly’s injury wouldn’t warrant Tommy John surgery, but a surgical produce is necessary to repair a previous internal brace in his right elbow.
Before hitting the 60-day injured list, Kelly was looming as a potential serviceable bullpen candidate for Cora to defer to down the line this season. This month he registered a trio of consecutive scoreless appearances, allowing just one hit while striking out three in five innings pitched.
Kelly, a journeyman who battled five years in the minor leagues before getting his big league shot last season, was emotional both during the incident and following at the end of the night when addressing his injury with reporters.
“Definitely emotional for two reasons,” Kelly said, as seen on NESN. “One, because I care. I care about this game, these guys and I enjoy doing this. Two, just all the (expletive) I went through to get here. It’s just a lot. Whenever something like that happens, you get emotional about it.”
