BOSTON - The Red Sox still do not have their rotation set for the upcoming road trip through New York and Detroit.
With an off-day on Monday, they'll figure it out then. But it seems one reason for the delay could be the wait to see how Joe Kelly performs on the mound Saturday.
Kelly has made two starts for the Sox since being recalled from Pawtucket, but neither start has signaled a lot of improvement from before he was sent down.
Kelly allowed four runs on three home runs in 5.1 innings on Jul. 22, and followed that up with four more runs in 3.1 innings on Jul. 27.
With the Sox out of the playoff hunt, and with two young pitchers down with the PawSox in Brian Johnson and Henry Owens, you'd think the Sox were readying to give them some big league outings. Johnson made one start for the Sox this season before being sent back down. Owens has yet to make his major league debut.
But manager John Farrell wouldn't say that this start was more important for Kelly than any other start, or that it would affect the youngsters' call-ups.
"There isn't a do or die label attached to this," Farrell said. "I will say that every start a major league pitcher makes is an important one. In light of some internal discussions on us getting some further exposure for both Johnson and Henry Owens at some point, today's start doesn't speed up that timeline for either of those two guys."
The Red Sox also have two off-days the following week (Aug. 10 and Aug. 13), so Farrell has plenty of opportunities to juggle the rotation.