Casey Kelly Advises Boston Red Sox He Will Pitch: Drafts Paying Dividends

When he was first hired as Red Sox GM, Theo Epstein inherited a largely barren minor league system. One of his first priorities was to create an immediate infusion of talent at the upper levels of the farm system.

For that reason, the ball club focused on college players during the first three drafts conducted under Epstein, believing they were more polished and closer to being “major league-ready.”

From 2003-2005, the Red Sox used eight of their 11 selections in the first, supplemental, and second rounds to pick college players, including its first choice in each of those drafts: David Murphy (First Round, 2003), Dustin Pedroia (Second Round, 2004), and Jacoby Ellsbury (First Round, 2005).

Additionally, they chose collegiate players Jonathan Papelbon, Clay Buchholz, Jed Lowrie, and Cla Meredith (traded to SD in the Doug Mirabelli deal) during those drafts.

With the infusion largely under way by 2006, the team began to alter its approach to the draft. The organization was less inclined toward college players and more focused on picking “the best available athlete.”

While the 2006 draft produced college players Daniel Bard and Justin Masterson among others, the ball club expended two of its first four picks on high school players: Jason Place (No. 1) and Caleb Clay (No. 4).

Additionally, the team selected several other highly regarded schoolboy athletes, including Top 10 prospects Lars Anderson, Ryan Kalish, and Josh Reddick.

Over the last three years, the movement towards high school players has continued: In 2007, six of the first 12 picks were high school players...in 2008, it was four of the first seven picks...and this year, it was six of the first 10 selections.

It will take a few (or several) years for most of these guys to have an impact on the big league team (either as players or tradable commodities), but there are a couple of guys who might pay off sooner rather than later.

That brings us to Casey Kelly, 20, the organization’s top prospect heading into the 2010 season.

He was selected with the first pick (No. 30 overall) in the 2008 draft as an 18-year-old out of Sarasota (Fla.) HS, where he was a star quarterback for the football team and a standout as both a shortstop and a pitcher on the baseball team.

He fell to the Red Sox at the bottom of the first round because teams feared he might pursue opportunities in college football—he was a QB recruit for the Univ. of Tennessee.

Kelly primarily focused on playing shortstop in high school and wanted to play there as a pro, but the Red Sox were interested in him as a pitcher.

In order to coax him into foregoing his opportunity to play football at Tennessee, the Sox agreed to let him play both during his first couple of years in the minor leagues.

During his first pro season in ‘08, he played shortstop exclusively during the season and didn’t pitch until the instructional league in October.

Based on the results, it seemed clear to most observers that his greatest potential was on the mound, but Kelly remained adamant that he wanted to give shortstop a shot.

The Red Sox supported his decision but made it clear they wanted him to make a definitive decision at the end of the ‘09 season.

So he again split time between the mound and shortstop this past season—pitching during the first half of the season and playing shortstop during the second half of the year and in the Arizona Fall League.

As a pitcher he had an outstanding half-season, compiling a 7-5 record with a 2.08 ERA. He allowed only 65 hits and struck out 74 batters in 95 innings pitched. He was chosen to participate in the 2009 XM All-Star Futures Game—where he pitched a scoreless inning.

He could not replicate that success at shortstop. He hit just .222 in the second half of the season and followed that up by hitting just .171 in the Arizona Fall League.

So this past week, Epstein, farm director Mike Hazen, and Single-A manager Gary DiSarcina flew to Fort Myers, Fla., to meet with Kelly, his father (former major leaguer Pat Kelly), and Kelly’s agents to talk about his future.

The young man informed the club that he will abandon his attempt to play shortstop and focus exclusively on pitching. The club is reportedly thrilled with Kelly's decision. He’s been invited to spring training.

Epstein has speculated Kelly could be ready for the big leagues by the second half of the 2011 season.