Joe Kelly Confident Bicep Strain Nothing To Worry About
BOSTON (CBS) -- As he was warming up ahead of his third start of the spring on Monday, Joe Kelly felt a little tightness in his right bicep.
The Red Sox pitcher thought nothing of it, and figured it would go away as he loosened up. He took the mound as scheduled, but realized he could only throw a fastball and changeup because he couldn't get any spin on the ball. By the time he left in the third inning, he was reduced to throwing just a fastball.
Kelly ended up allowing three runs on seven hits over his 2.2 innings pitched against the New York Mets, but while he's disappointed with those results, he doesn't sound all too worried about whatever may be ailing his bicep.
"I'm not concerned. I've had it in my career before," he said confidently shortly after his outing. "It's something we looked over in the training room and everything checked out fine. There was just a little bicep restriction, and it's something we're going to work on. We'll let it settle down a little bit and then continue throwing.
"It just started affecting the way the ball was coming out of my hand. I couldn't spin the ball; I could throw a changeup and a fastball, and then it was just a fastball. It was inconsistent coming out of my hand and preventing me from making the pitches I had to make. [Manager John] Farrell and the staff saw it, and I came out of the game."
"It's not uncommon for pitchers to experience some soreness as we're stretching them out and building up their pitch count. I know this is something Joe has experienced in the past," Farrell said after the game, noting that some other starters are also going through a 'dead arm' period. "We'll have a chance to re-evaluate him when he comes back in tomorrow and what kind of treatment or adjustment to his schedule he'll need going forward."
Kelly, who will likely be penciled in as Boston's No. 5 starter when the season starts in three weeks, said he also dealt with this around this time last spring when he was still a member of the St. Louis Cardinals.
"Usually it gets knocked out pretty quick with a little work in the training room and not a lot of rest. You just have to get through it yourself," he said.
Kelly said it would be up to Farrell and the training staff whether or not he makes his next start, but he's very confident it won't be a lingering issue that carries over into the season.
"I'm fairly confident that it's not a big deal at all," he said. "They might make me rest a little bit, but right now my arm feels fine. It was just a little restriction in the lower part of my bicep.
"If you catch it soon enough, like we did, you just have to go through your normal routine. It usually doesn't last too long."
In three spring starts, Kelly has allowed nine earned runs off 17 hits while striking out eight batters over 7.1 innings pitched.
