Casey Kelly | Hitter or Pitcher Prospect?

Casey Kelly is rapidly becoming one of the Red Sox top prospects in the organization. Kelly was a first round pick out of Sarasota High School in 2008. The Red Sox originally liked him as a pitcher, but he played in Lowell last season at shortstop. This year he switched back to the mound and has dominated. The plan for Kelly this year is to throw 95 innings before going back to shortstop to finish out the season.

Between Salem and Greenville Kelly has a combined FIP of 2.76 in 71 innings. His BABIP is a stingy .245 between both levels and his WHIP is .85. Kelly has maintained superb control for a pitcher of his young age and experience level, with a K-BB ratio of 5.8 (58K-10BB) and in 4 starts in High-A Salem he has struck out 19 batters and walked only 1. His HR/F % is a minuscule 2.8%. Kelly has been particularly hard on right-handed hitters limiting them to .188 BA and .228 BABIP.

Last year Kelly split time between the Gulf Coast Red Sox Rookie team and the Lowell Spinners. In 36 games Kelly had an OPS of .586 and struck out 6 times versus 42 strikeouts. His K% was a staggering 32%, yet his BABIP .344. His SecA was a weary .162. However, in his brief 9 game stint with Lowell he posted a slugging percentage of .563 and an ISO of .219. His defense was pretty solid, posting a 3.90 range factor per game. His play in Lowell was encouraging, but at this point it is pretty apparent his future in on the mound. His plate discipline is lagging, and aside from that, his pitching has been down right dominant this season.