Red Sox reliever to miss significant time due to elbow surgery

Red Sox reliever Zack Kelly will undergo right elbow surgery in the coming days, manager Alex Cora announced to the team’s beat on Wednesday afternoon (Twitter link via Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com). While he will not require Tommy John surgery, Kelly will undergo a procedure to repair a previous internal brace that was inserted into his pitching elbow.

Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic tweets that Kelly originally had an internal brace operation — an increasingly common Tommy John alternative that can be performed on some (but not all) ligament tears dependent on the extent and placement of the damage — performed in 2020. Cora did not indicate whether Kelly might pitch again in 2023, only stating that he will be out “for a while.” Kelly was already placed on the 60-day IL earlier this week. Boston has claimed lefty Brennan Bernardino from the Mariners to help with the team's depleted bullpen.

The 28-year-old Kelly sustained his current elbow injury when pitching against the Rays earlier in April (video link via MLB.com). After letting go of an errant pitch that plunked infielder Yandy Diaz, Kelly immediately removed his glove, clutched his elbow and dropped into a crouch. Trainers came to the mound and an emotional Kelly walked off the field, clearly fearing that he had incurred a substantial injury. That indeed was the case, as McCaffrey indicates the previously installed brace came detached on that ill-fated pitch. 

The emotion shown is particularly understandable for Kelly, a 28-year-old journeyman who made his big league debut in Boston last season after going undrafted out of college and grinding through six minor league seasons between three organizations. He pitched 13 2/3 innings with a solid 3.95 ERA in his debut campaign and he had tossed another 7 1/3 frames with three runs allowed in 2023. Overall, in 21 Major League innings, Kelly owns a 3.86 ERA and 17/10 K/BB ratio.