Kevin Clayton Kelly (born November 28, 1997) is an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

for the

Tampa Bay Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. Since its inception ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2023.

Amateur career

Kelly grew up in Springfield, Virginia and attended Paul VI Catholic High School. Kelly attended James Madison University and played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional pl ...

for the

James Madison Dukes The James Madison Dukes are the intercollegiate athletics teams that represent James Madison University (JMU), in Harrisonburg, Virginia. The name "Dukes" is derived from Samuel Page Duke, the university's second president. The Dukes play as me ...

for three seasons. He was named a freshman All-American by the '' Collegiate Baseball Newspaper'' after going 5–3 with a 2.91 ERA and 38 strikeouts in 34 innings pitched over 24 relief appearances. As a sophomore, Kelly posted a 3–3 record with a 3.74 ERA in 15 appearances with 11 starts. After the 2018 season, he played

collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...

for the

Orleans Firebirds The Orleans Firebirds, formerly the Orleans Cardinals, are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Orleans, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the league's East Division. The Firebirds play t ...

of the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over one thousan ...

and was named a league all-star. Kelly went 7–7 with a 3.26 ERA and 94 strikeouts over 15 starts.

Professional career

Cleveland Indians / Guardians

The

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive F ...

selected Kelly in the 19th round of the

2019 Major League Baseball draft The 2019 Major League Baseball (MLB) First-Year Player Draft was held from June 3 to 5, 2019. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The draft order was set based on the reverse order of the 2018 MLB season standings. In additi ...

. After signing with the team he was assigned to the

Arizona League Indians The Arizona Complex League Guardians are a Rookie-level affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians, competing in the Arizona Complex League of Minor League Baseball. The team plays its home games at Goodyear Ballpark in Goodyear, Arizona. The team is c ...

and had a 2.08 ERA and struck out 25 batters in innings pitched. He did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. Kelly was assigned to the

High-A High-A (officially Class High-A, formerly known as Class A-Advanced, and sometimes abbreviated "A+" in writing) is the third-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States and Canada, below Triple-A and Double-A, and abov ...

Lake County Captains The Lake County Captains are a Minor League Baseball team in Eastlake, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland, that plays in the Midwest League as the High-A affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians. The Captains joined the Class A Midwest League following t ...

for the 2021 season. In 40 appearances for Lake County, he posted a 5–5 record and 4.66 ERA with 81 strikeouts and 7 saves in 56.0 innings pitched. He began the 2022 season with the Double-A Akron RubberDucks. In 48 appearances split between Akron and the Triple-A

Columbus Clippers The Columbus Clippers are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians. They are located in Columbus, Ohio, and are named for speedy Merchant ship, mercha ...

, Kelly pitched to a combined 5–2 record and 2.04 ERA with 75 strikeouts and 4 saves in 57.1 innings of work.

Tampa Bay Rays

On December 7, 2022, Kelly was selected by the

Colorado Rockies The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The team plays its home baseball games at Coors Fie ...

in the 2022 Rule 5 draft and added to their 40-man roster. The same day, he was traded to the

in exchange for cash considerations. On March 27, 2023, the Rays announced that Kelly had made the Opening Day roster. On April 28, Kelly recorded the final out in a 3–2 victory over the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...

to earn his first career save.

Personal life

In January 2023, Kelly announced his engagement via his Instagram account to his longtime girlfriend Dr. Sarah Hosseinian. The two of them married in Leesburg, Virginia on January 13, 2024.

References

External links

James Madison Dukes bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, Kevin 1997 births Living people Akron RubberDucks players Alexandria Aces players Arizona League Indians players Baseball players from Virginia Columbus Clippers players James Madison Dukes baseball players Lake County Captains players Major League Baseball pitchers Orleans Firebirds players People from Springfield, Virginia Sportspeople from Fairfax County, Virginia Tampa Bay Rays players

Amateur career

Professional career

Cleveland Indians / Guardians

Tampa Bay Rays

Personal life

See also

References

External links