The Reds have signed right-hander Casey Kelly to a minor league deal and assigned him to Triple-A Louisville, per an announcement from Louisville. Kelly, the son of Bats manager Pat Kelly, was released by the Korea Baseball Organization’s LG Twins last month.
Kelly, 34, was once a first-round pick by the Red Sox back in 2008. Included alongside Anthony Rizzo in the trade that brought Adrian Gonzalez to Boston, the righty was a consensus top-30 prospect in the sport prior to his big league debut with the Padres in 2012. Unfortunately, Kelly’s career in stateside ball didn’t take off the way his prospect status might have suggested. He struggled badly in his rookie season with a 6.21 ERA and 4.78 FIP in six starts for the Padres, and wouldn’t resurface in the big leagues until 2015. He struggled in brief cups of coffee for the Padres and Braves before eventually finding some small-sample size success with the Giants in 2018. In San Francisco, the righty pitched to a solid 3.04 ERA with a 4.22 FIP in seven appearances (three starts) that totaled 23 2/3 innings of work.
That performance wasn’t enough to earn him more playing time in the majors, but it did grab attention overseas, and Kelly signed his first contract with the KBO’s LG Twins prior to the 2019 season. Kelly turned in an excellent season in his first year overseas as he posted a sterling 2.55 ERA in 180 1/3 frames across 29 starts despite a strikeout rate of just 16.9%. Kelly remained with the club for more than half a decade and posted excellent numbers as a stalwart of the Twins’ rotation, with a 3.08 ERA in 875 2/3 innings of work entering the 2024 season.
While some reporting indicated that there was stateside interest in Kelly’s services this year, the right-hander remained with the Twins on a one year deal during the offseason. His results took a turn for the worse this year, however, and he surrendered a lackluster 4.51 ERA while striking out just 13.9% of opponents in 19 starts before he was eventually cut loose to make room on the club’s roster for newly-signed righty Elieser Hernandez. That’s opened the door for Kelly to return to stateside ball for the first time since 2018, though he’ll do so with a Reds organization where he faces some stiff competition to make it to the major league level.
Cincinnati is currently deploying a rotation of Hunter Greene, Nick Lodolo, Andrew Abbott, Nick Martinez, and Carson Spiers with Jakob Junis in a multi-inning relief role. Of that group, Junis’s 108 ERA+ is the weakest, leaving no obvious weak link to be replaced. An injury or two could open up spots with the big league club, of course, but even then Kelly would have to put himself ahead of not only fellow non-roster veterans like Justus Sheffield but also pieces already on the club’s 40-man roster like Lyon Richardson in order to crack the big league roster. Still, it’s certainly possible to imagine a strong showing from Kelly in the minors down the stretch leading to further interest in his services in affiliated ball headed into the 2025 campaign, even if he doesn’t receive an opportunity in the majors this year.
This guy is STILL hanging around? Kudos to the grind.
I disagree with the wording in this article. Casey Kelly was not included with Anthony Rizzo in the Adrian Gonzalez deal, Anthony Rizzo was included with Casey Kelly. Kelly was the #1 get in that trade at the time. Rizzo was also highly thought of, but a clear #2 in the deal. Didn’t end up that way, but at the time of the trade, that was the set up.
Agree Kelly was the clear prize at the time as rizzo was more of a feel good story for his cancer recovery…hindsight is 20/20
Finally, the progeny of an unholy tryst between Sean Casey and Roberto Kelly has his chance to shine
There is a blast from the past. All the best to you Casey. Good for you for continuing to play ball overseas for 6 season. Making $1 million plus a year in Korea sure beats riding a bus in the minors here in the states. Good luck with the Reds organization.
Sounds like a favor to PK.
If so good for them, this years a wash anyways
It is now. They guaranteed that by their inaction.
This sounds like a couple of things.
Depth to finish out the Bats minor league season
A tryout on a MLB affiliate to show scouts both here and overseas that he still has something left. Just cause the LG Twins didn’t want him anymore (they did give him a nice farewell ceremony though) doesn’t mean another KBO team won’t consider signing him
Gets to play for his dad and a nice story longtime KBO star comes home to pitch for his dad.
Best of luck to the man.
Wasn’t he a shortstop also? Remember him playing the field early in the minor leagues.
I was expecting it to be the outfielder Pat Kelly, who was Leroy Kelly’s brother and Andre Thornton BIL. Instead it was a different Pat Kelly who played in three MLB games and who I was unfamiliar with. Discovering MLB players I’d previously missed is an unexpected joy of this site.
I thought it was Grace Kelly illegitimate son. Was I wrong