Kevin

Kelly

Kelly had a down year in 2025, posting a 5.90 ERA in 39 2/3 innings; however, he had posted a 2.67 ERA, 0.96 WHIP, and 63/9 K/BB ratio in 70 2/3 innings, so the Rays will be hoping they get that version out of the bullpen in 2026.

Kelly has a 5.93 ERA in 29 appearances this season after coming in at 2.88 in 125 appearances between 2023 and ’24. He’ll get another chance now after throwing nice scoreless innings with a 13/0 K/BB in eight Triple-A appearances.

Kelly heads back to the minors with Adrian Houser being added to Tampa Bay’s active roster. The 27-year-old righty has posted an underwhelming 5.93 ERA across 27 1/3 innings (29 appearances) this season.

Kelly is back after missing over six weeks with a left gluteal strain. He’ll return to a mid-to-late inning role with the Rays now that he’s healthy enough to do so.

Kelly will miss two weeks with the injury. The 27-year-old will be replaced on the active roster by Cole Sulser.

Pete Fairbanks pitched Tuesday and hasn’t been used on back-to-back days since coming off the IL while Jason Adam had worked four out of five days opening the door for Kelly to close this one out. The side-armer is unlikely to earn many more save opportunities with Fairbanks and Adam healthy.

With Pete Fairbanks landing on the IL, Kelly was called up to take his place. Kelly was just up with Tampa Bay until Thursday when he was demoted after allowing at least one earned run in three of his first four appearances on the season. He did have a 3.09 ERA in 67 appearances in 2023, so he should be expected to settle into a middle relief role for the time being.

We know that Fairbanks battled Reynaud’s syndrome, which is a problem that causes decreased blood flow to the fingers and obviously impacts gripping a baseball. This may be what’s caused his early-season struggles as well. We have no indication of how long he’ll be on the IL, but the Rays will undoubtedly go to a committee in his absence that features Jason Adam, Garrett Cleavinger, and Colin Poche. All of them can be added in leagues if you need saves since they should also provide solid ratios even if they don’t get a bulk of the save opportunities. Kevin Kelly was called up in a corresponding move.

Kelly appeared in four games this season for the Rays and allowed at least one earned run in three of those appearances. The 26-year-old will continue to get work down at the minors but should get some major league innings down the road as he was a big part of the team’s bullpen in 2023 when he posted a 3.09 ERA across 67 innings.

Kelley is back in the majors with swingman Tyler Alexander heading to the bereavement list ahead of Tuesday’s showdown against the Angels out in Los Angeles. The 26-year-old former Rule 5 selection made 57 appearances last year for Tampa Bay as one of the main fixtures in their bullpen mix.