Phillies Acquire Utility Man Ty Kelly from Blue Jays
By John Town
The Phillies found their replacement for Howie Kendrick on the major-league roster by acquiring utility man Ty Kelly from Toronto.
The news emerged Friday that Phillies starting left fielder Howie Kendrick will miss more time than expected after hitting the disabled list last week. Corey Seidman of CSN Philly reported that Kendrick may miss another week to ten days due to an oblique strain, if not longer.
In the meantime, the Phils have been playing with a short bench with either Daniel Nava or Aaron Altherr filling in for Kendrick in left field. Instead of calling up a bench player from Triple-A, Philadelphia brought up Mark Leiter, Jr. to bolster the bullpen.
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Now the Phils seem to have their replacement for Kendrick while he is out. They acquired utility man Ty Kelly from the Blue Jays for cash considerations. To make room for Kelly on the 40-man roster, the team moved Clay Buchholz to the 60-day disabled list after he underwent surgery on his arm during the week.
This is Kelly’s third team so far this season. He started the year with the Mets and registered one at-bat with them before being designated for assignment.
The Blue Jays claimed him off waivers and he picked up two hits in nine plate appearances with Toronto’s Triple-A team. They recalled him to the majors April 18, but he did not appear in a game and was designated for assignment Friday.
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The Orioles drafted Kelly in the 13th round back in 2009. He spent time in Baltimore’s, Seattle’s, St. Louis’, Toronto’s and New York’s minor-league system before finally making his major-league debut last season.
In 39 games with the Mets, serving mainly as a bench player, he had a .241/.352/.345 line. One positive stat was his plate discipline: he walked in 15.5% of his plate appearances and struck out in just 12.7%.
Throughout his minor-league career, Kelly played every position on the diamond besides catcher, including pitching one inning in 2014.
The bulk of his playing time came at second base, third base, and left field, all positions Kendrick is adept in.
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There is no official word on where Kelly will head once he officially joins the Phils, but it seems likely he is headed to the majors if he was added to the 40-man roster. The team will have to demote someone else to make room for Kelly, likely Leiter, Jr.