Zack Kelly gives update on recovery from injury and lays out plan in Worcester
Zack Kelly has 21 games of MLB experience under his belt dating back to 2022 when he made his debut. In the 23 innings over those 21 games, Kelly has put up a 3.91 ERA. While the strikeouts haven’t been at the same level as they were in the minors, it has been a rather successful short stint in his MLB career.
Then came an oblique injury that sidelined Kelly for a month while the 29-year-old was battling for a major league bullpen spot this spring. While it may have just avoided an IL stint to start the season, there is still time needed to get into regular season form.
“I still have to build up a little bit.” Kelly told Beyond the Monster at WooSox media day on Wednesday. “I have only pitched once since March 2nd in a game. The first couple of outings are going to be me building back up more. I still have to go two innings and I am going to try to go back-to-back too. Mainly just stay healthy and get ahead of hitters and let my off-speed stuff play early on this season.”
On top of just the normal build up that Kelly has to get done before he has any chance of getting back up to the major league bullpen, he mentioned that the team set no real timeline in regards to when they want to see him built back up by. There are certain “checkmarks” he wants to hit while in Worcester that will ultimately lead back to regular season form and with a chance to be called up if needed.
Shifting focus to another big topic of discussion is that the pitchers are coming out of their first camp with the new pitching structure in place in the organization. From Justin Willard to Andrew Bailey, to all of the Driveline guys added to the organization, it has brought a whole new focus to analytics and different ways of thinking.
“You saw how well we pitched this spring.” Kelly noted. “It was a big difference with the new additions player wise and new additions staff wise too. You could see in spring training it went well and I think it will continue that trend through the season.”
He also had to show a little love to Willard and Tread, where he works out in the offseason.
“I love the new minds that joined the organization.” Kelly said. “Justin Willard was the pitching coach that recruited me in college, so we go way back. You see the way the game is going with it being very analytics based now. I am on both sides of the fence when it comes to that. I work a lot with Tread Athletics in the offseason and stuff wise, I have never felt better. I think it’s going to be very beneficial for the organization.”
The WooSox open their season on Friday against Lehigh Valley before returning home for their home opener on Tuesday against Buffalo.
