Boston's Former Cardinals Crash and Burn

Joe Kelly will try to figure it out in the minors (Yahoo Sports)

With Joe Kelly's demotion to Triple-A Pawtucket today, the Red Sox have officially lost last summer's trade with the St. Louis Cardinals--the one that sent John Lackey packing to St. Louis in return for Joe Kelly and Allen Craig, neither of whom are currently on the big league roster..

In fact, I think it might be the worst trade Ben Cherington has ever made. Kelly and Craig have both been massive busts in Boston, while Lackey has continued to be an effective starter for the Cards. Kelly has not developed into a viable starting pitcher, much less the Cy Young winner he predicted he'd be. With a 5.67 ERA and 1.50 WHIP, he's been one of the worst starting pitchers in baseball this year. At this point, his best bet is to take his heater to the bullpen, where he may enjoy a renaissance a la Andrew Miller.

As for Craig, he has yet to rediscover the stroke that made him a .300 hitter and one of the league's best RBI men. Not even Fenway Park could help restore the former All-Star's bat, as he's hit a meager .130/.235/.192 since joining the Red Sox. His age, injury history, non-existent production, and costly price tag (he'll earn $11 million next year) makes him all but untradeable.

Meanwhile, Lackey has continued to thrive in St. Louis. He faded down the stretch last year but has bounced back strong this year, posting a 3.41 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, and 3.14 K/BB ratio. He's been one of the most reliable starters for the first-place Cardinals, leading the staff in innings pitched and helping pick up the slack in Adam Wainwright's absence. Even at 36, he shows no signs of slowing down.

At the time, trading a veteran starter in his mid-30s for a hard-throwing hurler in his mid-20s made plenty of sense, but taking on Craig's costly contract and expecting him to bounce back proved to be too much of a gamble. Boston really could have used Lackey in its rotation this year, and had absolutely no need for Craig given its already-crowded outfield situation when he arrived. Now it looks like the Sox are stuck with him, unless they can convince somebody that regular playing time will rejuvenate the soon-to-be 31 year-old's bat.

I still think Kelly has a future as a shut-down reliever, but that's not as valuable as a reliable starting pitcher, especially given the struggles of Boston's rotation this year. This trade is just one of many reasons why the Red Sox have underperformed this year, but it's now clear that they'd be better off had Cherington never done this deal.

Sox Should Stick Kelly in Pen

Kelly's overstayed his welcome in Boston's starting rotation (Fox Sports)

How many beatings does poor Joe Kelly have to take before the Red Sox realize he is, in fact, not cut out to be a major league starting pitcher. How long before they realize what the rest of the baseball world has known all along; that his live-wire arm is better suited for the bullpen than the rotation?

Because right now, at least, it's obvious that Kelly has no place in John Farrell's stable. He was roughed up last night, surrendering eight hits and five runs as he failed to make it through the fourth. The beating inflated his ERA to 5.67--fifth-worst in the majors among qualified starting pitchers--while his WHIP ballooned to 1.50 (eighth-worst).

After a promising April in which Kelly averaged over a strikeout per inning and managed a 3.5 K/BB ratio, he's reverted into the mediocre starting pitcher he was prior to this year. Since May 1st, Kelly has made 10 starts, of which the Red Sox have won only two. His earned runs have exceeded his strikeouts during that stretch, a period in which he's struck out more than three batters in a start twice. Meanwhile, his K/BB ratio has been an ugly 32/23.

Expand the sample size a little further--to include his last dozen starts--and the numbers look even worse. He has a 6.39 ERA over that span, getting raked to the tune of an .813 OPS. For every decent start Kelly makes, he has a clunker like last night's, failing to display the consistency one would hope to see from a major league starter.

With their season already doomed, the Red Sox appear to be sticking with Kelly for two reasons. One is a clear lack of superior alternatives. The other is Kelly's tantalizing velocity, which thus far has produced the fourth-highest average fastball speed among starters. When a pitcher throws that hard and is able to sustain it throughout the course of a start (Kelly was still throwing darts when Farrell yanked him yesterday), it's hard not to be seduced by the possibility that he'll blossom into the next Justin Verlander or Max Scherzer.

Therein lies the problem. Kelly's struggles have nothing to do with velocity but everything to do with how he attacks hitters. He's the epitome of a "thrower," lacking the command and secondary pitches needed to make his heat effective. Kelly knows this, as his curveball and slider have both been mediocre pitches, which causes him to rely on his gas. But with over 70 percent of his pitches coming in as fastballs, he's not fooling anybody. Batters are looking dead-red and punishing him for it.

Anyone can come out and blow away three batters in an inning, but it takes a tactician to survive several trips through a major league lineup. Everyone can hit the fastball, otherwise they wouldn't be in the Show. Navigating your way through a batting order is less about velocity and more about location, deception, and pitch-sequencing. How do you think Mark Buehrle won over 200 games, or Tim Wakefield lasted nearly two decades?

At 27 Kelly still has time to figure it out. Maybe like Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling he will be a late-bloomer. With their season sunk, the Red Sox can afford to give him more time this year. But what about next year, when they'll be trying to contend? Boston, and Kelly, won't have that same luxury.

Another way Boston could try to salvage this situation would be to put him in the bullpen and hope for the best. If he thrives there like Andrew Miller did, then they'll have a nice bargaining chip at the trade deadline. If he struggles, then he can rejoin the rotation and try his hand at starting again. Either way, it seems clear that a change is in the best interests of both parties. Kelly can't continue to be pounded like this. He could really use some relief.

Sox Walk-Off

Betts celebrates his walk-off (Barstool Sports)

This season's first meeting between the Boston Red Sox and Toronto Blue Jays turned out to be a good one, though it did not start well for the Olde Towne Team. The half-hour rain-delay may have affected both starting pitchers, who each needed 36 pitches to get through the first and allowed five runs between them.

Jose Reyes got Toronto off and running by ripping Joe Kelly's second pitch of the night for a single, stole second, then came around to score when Devon Travis singled to right. Kelly walked Josh Donaldson, losing him on a full-count. Two outs later, he lost another full count when Russell Martin turned on Kelly's ninth pitch of the at-bat and smashed two-run double down the left field line. Kelly stranded Martin on second by getting Michael Saunders to fly out to deep center and end the inning, by which point he had already thrown 36 pitches and dug Boston into a 3-0 hole.

The Red Sox rallied immediately, getting two runs back in their half of the first on an opposite field single from Pablo Sandoval. The game would have at least been tied, however, had Mookie Betts not been thrown out trying to steal second base. Betts had tipped his hand by trying to steal on the previous pitch, which Dustin Pedroia fouled off.

Following a scoreless second inning in which both sides went down in order and failed to hit the ball out of the infield, the Jays struck again. Travis, the red-hot rookie, continued his incredible start by lining an 0-2 pitch over the Monster to lead off the third. Kelly recovered to fan Donaldson, Jose Bautista, and Edwin Encarnacion, blowing away the heart of Toronto's order with his high-90s fastball.

Kelly ran into trouble again in the fourth as his control abandoned him. He walked Martin on four pitches and Saunders on five, setting up Kevin Pillar's run-scoring single. The game might have gotten out of hand were it not for consecutive outstanding plays by Boston's defense. The first was Sandoval showing off his surprising agility by laying out, Bobby Orr-style, to snag a blooped bunt off the bat of Dalton Pompey. The second was an unassisted double play by Xander Bogaerts, who gunned the speedy Reyes at first and has looked much more comfortable at shortstop this year than he did last.

Sandoval's web-gem led to an early exit for the lumbering third baseman due to whiplash-like symptoms (he's been cleared to play tonight), but not before he belted his first Fenway home run in the bottom of the fourth. He hit a rocket into the bullpen off Aaron Sanchez, bringing the Sox to back within two. Boston closed the gap to one in the following frame after Kelly set down the Jays in order. Betts started the rally with a two-out double to left, then scored when Sanchez airmailed Dustin Pedroia's tapper out of play. The error, committed on a play which would have ended the inning, proved costly.

Kelly wasn't sharp, but kept his team in the game (Chat Sports)

With both starters gone by the seventh inning, John Gibbons entrusted his shaky bullpen to protect Toronto's one-run lead. Aaron Loup made short work of the Sox in the seventh, needing just eight pitches to retire the side. Alexi Ogando, the former reliever-turned starter-turned reliever again, did his part by keeping the Jays off the board in the seventh and eighth.

Gibbons tapped Roberto Osuna to navigate the eighth inning, a move that immediately misfired when he allowed back-to-back singles and uncorked a wild pitch. He walked David Ortiz to load the bases, only to face Boston's hottest hitter in Hanley Ramirez. Ramirez delivered, nearly finding the gap with a liner to left but settling for game-tying sacrifice fly. Osuna preserved the tie, escaping the inning without further damage by whiffing Allen Craig and getting Daniel Nava to line out to Donaldson, who made a spectacular leaping catch--one of his many great defensive plays on the day--to end the inning.

With the score all even at 5-5 heading into the ninth, it was Koji Time, and Koji Uehara did not disappoint. He whiffed Saunders and Pillar before getting Pompey to pop out to third, setting Boston up for some bottom of the ninth heroics.

And who better to play the hero than Betts, who in spite of his poor numbers has dazzled Red Sox fans with his highlight-reel theatrics and flair for the dramatic in the early-going. With one out and runners on second and third, Gibbons made the curious move of not walking Betts to set up a force at the plate and potential inning-ending double play. He let Miguel Castro pitch to the kid, who made Toronto pay by singling through its drawn-in infield for his third hit of the night, plating Bogaerts for the winning run.

The win improved Boston's record to 11-9, moving them into a tie for second place in the AL East with Tampa Bay, who lost to New York (AL) 4-1. The loss dropped Toronto to last place in the division, half a game behind Baltimore. The Red Sox will look to win again tonight behind Clay Buchholz, while the Jays will counter with Drew Hutchison.

Sox Win Third in a Row

Kelly was on his game today, firing seven innings of one-hit ball (Boston Globe)

Less than 12 hours after putting the Yankees to bed with a 6-5, 19-inning victory, the Red Sox ripped off another win versus their ancient foes. Boston beat New York 8-4, and thankfully needed only the requisite nine innings to do so this time.

With most of the position players still groggy from last night's marathon, starters Joe Kelly and Adam Warren encountered little resistance through the first six innings. Both teams plated a run in the second and Boston broke through for another in the fourth, but overall the bats were mostly quiet until the late innings. With both starters out of the game, however, the bats finally came alive.

The Red Sox pounced on Justin Wilson and Chris Martin for three runs in the top of the seventh, two on a double by Dustin Pedroia that sailed over Chris Young's head and bounced to the center field wall. Boston struck for three more in the top of the eighth against Matt Tracy, who was unfairly charged with three earned runs when Garrett Jones botched a two out fly ball off the bat of Brock Holt. The play was ruled a bases-clearing double for Holt--his fourth hit of the day.

Holt's hit/Jones's miscue put the game out of reach for New York, extending Boston's lead to 8-1. With Kelly gone after yielding just one hit through seven, the Yankees made some noise with two outs in the bottom of the eighth. After back-to-back singles by Gregorio Petit and Brett Gardner, Young yanked a hanging 0-2 slider from Alexi Ogando into the left field bleachers for a three-run homer. Not taking any chances, John Farrell lifted Ogando in favor of Anthony Varvaro, who finished off the inning by striking out Carlos Beltran (side-note: how washed up does he look right now?) on a foul tip.

The ninth saw both teams put a man in scoring position, but neither scored and that was that. Boston will look to sweep New York tomorrow night behind Clay Buchholz, fresh off a masterful Opening Day start in Philadelphia. The Yankees will try to salvage the series finale with Masahiro Tanaka on the bump, hoping Tanaka can put a rough start to the year behind him. The game will be nationally televised on ESPN starting at 8:05 PM EST.