FORT MYERS, Fla. — Red Sox right-handed reliever Zack Kelly added a two-seam fastball to his repertoire in the offseason.
MLB The Show’s Zack Kelly already threw one though.
“ It (the video game) had it like three years ago,” said Kelly, who made his major league debut in 2022.
It’s a pitch he and the Red Sox discussed in the offseason to “mess around with” and ”just see what it turns into.” He has thrown it in both spring training appearances so far.
“It’s getting there,” Kelly said. “I think the more and more I throw it, I see the improvement. I think it’s something that I’m just going to have to mess around with and also try to figure out the sequencing aspect of it. Knowing when to go to it, when to go to the four-seamer. It’s a work in progress but I like what it is so far.”
The righty, who will turn 30 on March 3, finished 2024 with a 3.97 ERA in 49 outings (56 ⅔ innings). He put together some dominant stretches. He also struggled right after the All-Star Break and again in September. His ERA ballooned from 2.58 to 3.97 during the final month.
“ It was pretty frustrating,” Kelly said. “Just because Aug. 31 you’re sitting there with a two and a half ERA. And then all of a sudden you blink and you’re barely under a 4.00. And so that’s how it is as a reliever. It was kind of a sour taste.”
But he said he also used that sour taste in “a positive way” during the offseason.
“I know I can compete and I was happy with the year I had,” Kelly said. “I also had that motivation because I got my (expletive) kicked the last week of the season. So it was a really good mixture of both of those. I was able to parlay that into a really good offseason.”
Kelly was pleased that he pitched the most innings he has in one season since 2019 when he was a starter in Double A. He also tossed 12 ⅔ innings at Triple-A Worcester, putting him at 69 ⅓ innings total last year.
Staying healthy for the full 2024 season was very important to him after he underwent an ulnar nerve transposition revision in his right elbow in 2023.
“That was a really big goal of mine — just to stay healthy and I did that,” Kelly said. “I was excited about that and I was happy with how I competed for the majority of the year. I think towards the tail end I broke down a little bit. So I think that just kind of led to some command stuff.”
Lack of command was typically the issue when he struggled last year. He averaged 4.3 walks per nine innings, a stat that needs to improve in 2025.
“ I honestly think the stuff ticked up toward the end,” Kelly said. “You look at the average velos by month. Toward July, end of July and August, it started hitting 99. But I think especially in September I started just to not command the ball as well.”
Kelly said he doesn’t play MLB The Show much anymore.
“I used to enjoy playing video games but now being a dad and getting home so late (after games), I hardly ever do it anymore,” he said.
But he did discover the Zack Kelly MLB The Show player throwing the two-seamer on his own. It wasn’t someone who told him about it.
“I went to play it as myself and I was like, ‘Oh, this is new. Let’s throw it,‘” Kelly said.
Kelly had thrown a two-seam fastball in high school, college and early in his minor league career before being part of the video game.
“I used to throw it,” he said. “I used to only throw a two-seam fastball. In high school all the way up until I think it was 2019. I liked the feeling of being inside the seams instead of the four-seam. It just felt better.”
But during his time in the Angels minor league system, the pitching department encouraged Kelly to go to a four-seam fastball.
“That’s when the whole four-seam, at the top of the zone, induced vertical break phenomenon started for us,” Kelly said. “So we completely scrapped it. And now we’re trying it again.
“It’s just like the sweepers now,” Kelly added. “It’s just like trends that kind of develop over the years where I’m sure in 2026, 2027, it’s going to be a new pitch.”
MLB The Show also has him throwing a curveball, but he didn’t add that one in the offseason.
Kelly now throws five pitches: a four-seam fastball, two seam fastball, sweeper, cutter and changeup.
“I think the two-seam will be useful to steal strikes,” Kelly said. “And also I think part of what I noticed after reviewing the year last year is with righties I didn’t really go inside a lot. My cutter’s away and my sweeper’s away, and my fastball’s away. I felt like I was almost cutting off half the plate.
“So I felt like they didn’t have to respect the inside part of the plate,” he added. “So I think being able to use that two-seam and do that almost to open up my other pitches that are better, I think that’s going to be useful.”
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