Jared Kelley's having another kind of uneven season, but it's the good kind in which the performances sway between "encouraging" and "discouraging," rather than varying degrees of ugly.
Kelley bounced back from his rough 1⅔ innings the last time out to throw four scoreless innings against Fayetteville on Friday night. He allowed just two singles and a walk while striking out four, lowering his ERA to an acceptable 4.15, all things considered.
Kelley's worth mentioning because FanGraphs' David Laurila posted a surprisingly detailed Q&A. Such interviews are Laurila's thing, but it's unexpected to see Kelley covered in such depth for a national outlet given his as-of-yet unremarkable stock. One reaction I had is "Kelley's struggles are kinda being soft-pedaled here." A subsequent reaction was, "The lack of preconceived notions is probably what's resulting in the open answers."
Laurila: What about the two-seamer? Why have you added that to your mix?
Kelley: “It plays more into my slot — I’m three-quarters — and the way that the ball comes out of my hand. I’ve always had maybe a runny four-seam, so we tried throwing a sinker grip and all the numbers matched up. Everything was good. Now it’s just about repeating it.”
Laurila: Are you still getting run on your four?
Kelley: “I’ve done a better job of getting on top of my four-seam and getting a little bit more carry on it. That’s something I’ve been working on, not having a runny four-seam, just a runny sinker and a four-seam fastball with ride.”
Jacksonville 7, Charlotte 4
- Adam Haseley went 1-for-4 with a stolen base.
- Yolbert Sánchez started at third and went 1-for-4 with a K.
- Carlos Pérez was 3-for-4 with a homer.
- Micker Adolfo wore the collar and silver sombrero.
- Kade McClure: 4.2 IP, 12 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, 1 HR
*Notes:
*Wes Helms offered some insight into his lineup decisions:
Birmingham 12, Rocket City 5
- Lenyn Sosa went singled twice, walked once and struck out twice.
- Yoelqui Céspedes went 2-for-5 with a homer and a strikeout.
- José Rodríguez went 2-for-5.
Highlights:
*Céspedes' homer.
Winston-Salem 6, Asheville 5
- Bryan Ramos went 1-for-5 with a homer.
- Luis Mieses was 3-for-4 with two doubles and a walk.
- Adam Hackenberg went 2-for-4 with a walk.
- Harvin Mendoza, 1-for-5 with a strikeout.
- Andrew Dalquist: 4.1 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 4 BB, 1 K, 1 WP
Fayetteville 2, Kannapolis 1
- James Beard singled and struck out thrice.
- DJ Gladney went 0-for-4 with a strikeout.
- Wilfred Veras went 0-for-3 with a K.
- Wes Kath, 0-for-3 with two strikeouts.
- Jared Kelley: 4 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K, 34 of 54 pitches for strikes.
