The start to Jared Kelley's 2023 season looked like a step back that he couldn't really afford. After making painstaking progress in Kannapolis over July and August of last season, he opened this year with a 9.42 ERA through his first five starts, allowing a line of .322/.444/.509 while averaging a little under three innings an outing.
A few outings ago, the White Sox shifted him to the bullpen, but not exactly as a reliever. They lined him up to piggyback off Brooks Gosswein, and tonight marked both another successful installment of that plan, and his longest outing of the season.
Once I saw that Gosswein was in line to start, I figured I'd see Kelley when I drove up to Bowling Green after the White Sox's collapse against the Marlins, and I wasn't disappointed.
I was underwhelmed at first. Kelley's first two innings were scoreless, but unremarkable. He sat at 94, the contact was decent, and he had some communication issues with catcher Keegan Fish. Twice he stepped off and took a pitch clock violation, and then Fish took glancing blow off his mask with a fastball after being crossed up.
Over the latter two innings, he took it up a notch. He sat 96 with his fastball, occasionally touching 97, and once Kelley started finding that, the Hot Rods' swings became less convincing.
Because Bowling Green's lineup was righty-heavy -- and maybe that's one of the benefits of following the lefty Gosswein, although minor-league lineups don't feature a ton of platooning -- I only saw Kelley throw one changeup. The other non-fastballs were sliders, and while a couple of them had some sharpness and depth, they seemed mostly successful because they were strikes, or close enough. His fastball set the agenda, and the breaking balls provided enough of a contrast. He walked two, but the control problems were contained to the isolated plate appearance (and one was helped along by the pitch clock violation).
Kelley's had enough fits, starts and missed time that he'll have to sustain it for weeks in order to change some minds and surge upwards on White Sox prospects lists, but it's definitely a more enjoyable version of him than what we'd seen earlier in the season. It feels like he should be older than 21, but he still has some time on his side.
Gwinnett 6, Charlotte 2
- Oscar Colás went 0-for-2 with a strikeout before being lifted.
- Carlos Pérez was 0-for-2 with an HBP and a walk.
- Sean Burke: 5 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 3 BB, 3 K, 1 HR
Chattanooga 3, Birmingham 1
- Alsander Womack went 1-for-4.
- Bryan Ramos doubled, walked twice and struck out once.
- Yoelqui Céspedes went 1-for-4 with a strikeout.
- Luis Mieses walked once and struck out thrice.
- Adam Hackenberg, 2-for-4 with a double.
Winston-Salem 5, Bowling Green 3
- Terrell Tatum went 0-for-3 with a walk, HBP and strikeout. He also stole a base, and was caught stealing on a delayed attempt.
- Loidel Chapelli went 1-for-5 with two strikeouts.
- DJ Gladney went 2-for-5 with a double, two strikeouts and a stolen base.
- Wes Kath walked once, struck out thrice and stole a base.
- Brooks Gosswein: 4 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, 1 HR
- Jared Kelley: 4 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 K, 34 of 56 pitches for strikes.
Notes:
*Tatum's HBP was a beanball, but the faceguard may have saved him some pain, because it seemed to take the brunt of it.
Kannapolis 7, Lynchburg 3
- Jacob Burke went 2-for-4 with a walk, strikeout and stolen base.
- Peyton Pallette: 3.2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, 39 of 66 pitches for strikes.
ACL Giants Black 5, ACL White Sox 2
- Erick Hernandez went 0-for-3.
- Ronny Hernandez was 1-for-3 with a strikeout.
DSL Blue Jays 9, DSL White Sox 8
- Rafael Alvarez went 0-for-2 with three walks, a strikeout and a stolen base.
- D'Angelo Tejeda went 2-for-4 with a walk and a stolen base.
- Luis Reyes: 0.2 Ip, 0 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 2 K, 2 WP
