Casey Kelly to Salem

[Looch Ness Monster]

just noticed that Kelly is now SoxProspects.com's #1 ranked prospect in the syster

 

That's just people voting though. It's very subjective to opinion. He's certainly not #1 in terms of MLB ready.

[Dojji]

Our top prospect rarely is.

[BoSox21]

his ceiling definitely seems high enough though

[BSN07]

I watched him pitch in the Futures game and was impressed. The kid has a future as a Pitcher. But given he has reached his innings limit, I'm fine with giving him a shot at SS. There are certain risks obviously, but with the depth in the system at the moment and his age I would say it's ok to go with it for now.

[Dojji]

How well would he have to play at shortstop to really muddy the waters after that level of pitching performance? Serious question here, I mean I'd love nothing more than to see the guy dominate the league at SS, but we're talking abou a 19 year old putting up solid numbers at Class A Advanced. That's pretty awesome stuff, I'm not sure if anything he does in Lowell is going to compare. he'd basically have to hit 10 HR's in a month and a half or something obscene like that.

 

that said, I definitely want him playing SS if his body can handling it. If nothing else, having it on your resume in the minors opens up possibilities in the majors if we need to make some odd substitutions in a game, or something. Having a pitcher who can play regular infield as an emergency option just increases his usefulness, even if it doesn't happen in a given year.

 

Also, if the guy can keep swinging the bat a little here and there against live pitching, that'll be useful during interleague play.