The White Sox announced Thursday that reliever Joe Kelly has been placed on the 15-day injured list due to inflammation in his right elbow. The move is retroactive to July 5. Fellow righty Nick Padilla was recalled from Triple-A Charlotte in a corresponding move, and the ChiSox also added right-hander Jimmy Lambert as the 27th man for today’s doubleheader.
Kelly’s injury comes with the trade deadline just under four weeks away and as his White Sox increasingly look like sellers. Chicago is seven and a half games out of first place in the AL Central, and while they’ve improved since an awful April, the gains haven’t been significant enough to position themselves as a strong contender. A healthy Kelly could well find himself on the trade market, but this move complicates any efforts to find a taker and, if he’s not back by Aug. 1, could keep him off the market entirely.
The 2023 season has been a mixed bag for Kelly. The right-hander owns an ugly 4.82 ERA in 28 innings out of Pedro Grifol’s bullpen, but his 30.8% strikeout rate, 8.3% walk rate, 12.7% swinging strike rate and huge 56.9% ground-ball rate are all far more appealing. Fielding-independent metrics like SIERA (2.90) and FIP (3.22) feel Kelly’s performance has been far better than his baseline run-prevention numbers would suggest.
Kelly is playing out the second season of a two-year, $17MM contract, so he’s not exactly a bargain even at full strength and peak effectiveness. That contract carries a club option with a net $8.5MM price, which seems unlikely to be exercised at this point given Kelly’s ERA and now a pair of trips to the injured list. (The other was in April due to a groin strain.) He has enough track record that a quick return from the IL and strong finish to the season could change that outlook, however.
For the time being, with Kelly joining Liam Hendriks on the shelf, the White Sox will lean more heavily on the quartet of Kendall Graveman, Keynan Middleton, Reynaldo Lopez and Aaron Bummer in late-inning situations.
Don’t know how he talked himself into 17 mill but the guy stinks. Great guy but he’s a horrible reliever. Watched his last appearance, looked healthy. Just bad. This is a phantom , you stink IL placement. Struck out the last two guys after giving up the lead lol. That’s Joe
Poor Joe Karen Kelly, his brittle bones and stick like build have broken. He will have plenty of time to make his crybaby pouty face and soak in his bath of tears. Never seen a crybaby quite like him, besides in tee ball.
Of course Reinsdorf won’t pick up Kelly’s option. Of course he won’t re-sign Giolito. He’ll sell as many players as he can. Then he’ll pocket the money instead of buying players and turn a partial rebuild into a full blown one.
“the White Sox will lean more heavily on the quartet of Kendall Graveman, Keynan Middleton, Reynaldo Lopez and Aaron Bummer in late-inning situations.”
Two of which have ERAs over 5.00. Sounds like a plan.
C’mon Hahn, sell sell sell or with the Sox luck all the trade chips will be on the IL come the deadline…
I used to be in Hahns corner but I’m just not convinced that he’s the right guy for the job anymore. Maybe it is a combination of Reinsdorf and Williams but three brief playoff appearances, a full scale rebuild and five different managers over the past fifteen years says someone is really bad at their job.
The ol Hawkeroo and Stone Pony should be named co-GMs. And of course, Ozzie back as Manager. What more could a Sox fan ask for?
Hawk was worse than Kenny and Hahn combined.
Brain paralysis?
So funny story. At least I find it very amusing. So I was at the Golden Corral buffet in Bolingbrook enjoying my third plate of food. I normally don’t have more than two plates but the fried chicken and mashed potatoes were just so good. So as I’m in line to get some more delicious treats, a person bumped into me. I turned around and it was Joe Kelly himself. Now keep in mind I was still wearing my Henry Cruz jersey that I bought from the Alsip flew market . So Joe apologized for bumping into me and offered me the last pieces of hush puppies that were in the containers. What a nice gesture on his behalf. So that’s my Joe Kelly encounter. Stay tuned for my next celebrity sighting
Well my bet the SOX don’t finish last is safe. Is it?