Well,
isn't that special? With the Red Sox bullpen in total meltdown mode, one of the logical reinforcements—
Joe Kelly—apparently isn't an option. To paraphrase the lead character in the
Herman Melville short story,
'Bartleby, the Scrivener', Kelly "would prefer not to" relieve. In fairness, the team has not asked Kelly to head to the 'pen, but his attitude is still annoying. Kelly has said that past closing experiences "bothered my arm a lot". As we have stated before, he has the
velocity,
stuff and
demeanor to close games. With the loss of
Koji Uehara, we
need a consistent force at the end of games. Kelly should be that force—even if he "would prefer to start". In 18 starts this year, Kelly is 4-6 with a 5.96 ERA. In 93.2 innings, he's given up a whopping 110 hits—including 12 home runs! His 1.548 WHIP is the worst of his career. Something new, perhaps, Joe?
