Red Sox’ Zack Kelly To Undergo Elbow Surgery

Red Sox right-hander Zack Kelly will undergo right elbow surgery in the coming days, manager Alex Cora announced to the team’s beat this afternoon (Twitter link via Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com). While he won’t require Tommy John surgery, Kelly will require a procedure to repair a previous internal brace that was inserted into his pitching elbow.

Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic tweets that Kelly originally had an internal brace operation — an increasingly common Tommy John alternative that can be performed on some but not all ligament tears (dependent on the extent and placement of the damage) — performed back in 2020. Cora did not indicate whether Kelly might pitch again in 2023, only stating that he’ll be out “for awhile.” Kelly was already placed on the 60-day IL earlier this week when Boston claimed lefty Brennan Bernardino from the Mariners.

The 28-year-old Kelly sustained his current elbow injury when pitching against the Rays last week (video link via MLB.com). After letting go of an errant pitch that plunked infielder Yandy Diaz, Kelly immediately removed his glove, clutched his elbow, and dropped into a crouch. Trainers came to the mound, and an emotional Kelly walked off the field, clearly fearing that he’d incurred a substantial injury. That indeed was the case, as McCaffrey indicates the previously installed brace came detached on that ill-fated pitch. His ligament is intact, but the new procedure will reattach the brace.

The emotion shown is particularly understandable for Kelly, a 28-year-old journeyman who made his big league debut in Boston last season after going undrafted out of college and grinding through six minor league seasons between three organizations before finally getting his first cup of coffee. He pitched 13 2/3 inning with a solid 3.95 ERA in his debut campaign, and he’d tossed another 7 1/3 frames with three runs allowed in 2023. Overall, in 21 Major League innings, Kelly has a 3.86 ERA and 17-to-10 K/BB ratio.