The Red Sox needed to make room on the active roster for Brayan Bello’s return Tuesday and decided to option reliever Zack Kelly to Triple-A Worcester.
It was a rough start to the season for Kelly, who allowed 10 runs in 10 innings of work. The right-hander’s latest appearance, which came Sunday in a loss to the Chicago White Sox, didn’t go well at all as Kelly hit two batters and surrendered three runs without recording an out.
That likely was the final straw for Kelly and Red Sox manager Alex Cora made sure to deliver a message to the 30-year-old before he headed down to the minors.
“We talked to him,” Cora told reporters, per MassLive’s Sean McAdam. “We told him to turn the page on the last (appearance), the way that went. I think it’s (a matter of) consistency. One good outing a week — is that good enough? Well, it helps. But we know there’s more there. We do know that.
“This guy can be a back-end reliever for a championship-caliber team. We just have to get there. The whole thing about projections, we have to turn the page and we have to execute. And he knows it.”
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Cora said improvements for Kelly need to come in tightening his pitch mix and being more aggressive in attacking hitters, including consistently throwing first-pitch strikes.
And Cora hasn’t lost hope that Kelly can still make an impact at the big-league level.
“(Kelly) will be back at one point, although there are no promises, and he’s going to help us win games,” Cora said.
Featured image via Eric Canha/Imagn Images
