PITTSBURGH (AP) — Pat Kelly, manager of Triple-A Louisville, occasionally likes to joke a little about the fact that he gets to tell one of his players that he is moving up to the major leagues.
And Kelly did his best on short notice on Friday night when, after a postgame fireworks display on the field, he approached his son Casey and asked him what he was planning to do on Saturday.
The younger Kelly – a pitcher and former first-round pick who spent six years in the Korean Baseball Organization before the Cincinnati Reds signed him to a minor league contract this month – told his father, “I’m starting for you tomorrow.”
But that wasn’t the case. He was returning to the major leagues, and when the elder Kelly announced the news to the family, there was no punch line. No hearty laugh. Just a moment between father and son that neither saw coming during Casey’s long stint in the KBO.
“We just stared at each other for a few seconds,” Casey Kelly said. “And then he started crying and I started crying.”
The tears dried quickly. There was too much to do.
On Saturday morning, Casey Kelly was in Pittsburgh. On Saturday night, he stood on a major league mound for the first time in 2,159 days. And in the bottom of the ninth inning, the 34-year-old Kelly celebrated the first save of his career after pitching three perfect innings in a 10-2 victory.
“It’s been a really turbulent month,” Kelly said. “I’m just trying to take it all in.”
There’s a lot to think about. Kelly was selected 30th overall in the 2008 draft by the Boston Red Sox when he was 18. He finally reached the Major Leagues with San Diego in 2012, moving from the Padres to Atlanta and San Francisco. In 26 appearances, he posted a record of 2-11 and an ERA of 5.46.
Cincinnati Reds relief pitcher Casey Kelly throws against the Pittsburgh Pirates in the ninth inning of a baseball game Saturday, Aug. 24, 2024, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Barry Reeger)
Kelly moved to the LG Twins of the KBO in 2019, where all the pieces he struggled to put together in the major leagues finally fell into place. The teenager, who relied heavily on his fastball and curveball, developed a changeup and slider he could rely on, and three or four times he figured out how to maneuver his way through a lineup.
The results didn’t take long to come. Kelly went 73-48 with a 3.31 ERA in six seasons with the Twins, and while he wondered if his stuff was still good enough to strike out major league hitters, he admitted that prospect became increasingly distant as his late 20s turned into his mid 30s.
Everything changed in late July when LG released him while Kelly’s ERA was at 4.51. The Reds, whose injury-plagued pitching staff needed help, signed Kelly to a minor league contract.
Kelly came to Louisville to play for his father with no expectations other than to show Cincinnati management that his soon-to-be 35-year-old right arm was not yet fully developed, and perhaps prove something to himself in the process.
“You know, there are some doubts in your mind: ‘Can I still do it here?'” Kelly said.
Against the Pirates, he did. Kelly entered the game with a six-run lead on highly touted rookie Julian Aguiar. He shut down all nine Pirates he faced, including two by strikeout. He threw 25 of his 38 pitches for strikes, relying on placement and off-speed pitches to keep the Pirates off balance on a night when his fastball reached 92 mph.
It was enough to give the rest of Cincinnati’s overworked bullpen a welcome night off and perhaps provide a shot of adrenaline for a locker room that needed a jolt of energy during the second-half slump that knocked the Reds out of the race for a playoff spot.
“Casey definitely did his part,” said Cincinnati manager David Bell. “The good atmosphere, the positive response, that’s just our team. Casey fits in perfectly.”
For now, and Kelly hopes, perhaps for the future too. A full 16 years after he was drafted and more than half a decade after he went abroad in search of a fresh start, everything is suddenly back on the table.
“I really feel like I’m as good as I’ve ever been pitching-wise. I can throw anything I want to throw anywhere,” he said. “And of course there are days when that doesn’t work out. But I’m confident in my ability as a pitcher now. Again, this league is so tough. It’s the best of the best. So we’ll just see what happens.”
