Casey Kelly is now bigger and better .

[NateGrey]

http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=SH&Date=20100216&Category=COLUMNIST&ArtNo=2161035&Ref=AR&MaxW=600&border=0

 

 

BRADENTON - Original? Well, actually, no.

 

But appropriate? For that answer, a few words from his panting medicine ball, and we quote:

 

"PUT ME DOWN, WILL YOU PLEASE?''

 

One could say Casey Kelly has grown into the nickname.

 

Still is.

 

Mighty Casey.

 

"As (Rick) Sutcliffe said in the Futures Game,'' Pat Kelly, Casey's dad, said, "'I just think he has man-muscles now.'"

 

Wave goodbye to the Sarasota High Casey Kelly, the 18-year-old, 190-odd pound Casey Kelly, a body of untapped potential, the kind of which makes Corey Stenstrup drool.

 

Say hello to the professional ballplayer Casey Kelly, now 20, now 220 pounds, now equipped, more than ever, to become the king of the hill the Boston Red Sox envision.

 

And Stenstrup is the one doing the pushing.

 

"He's a legit XX,'' the performance specialist at the IMG Performance Institute said. "When you look at him, he has the appearance now of somebody who is biologically becoming a man.

 

"He's no longer a high schooler on the cusp of being a man.''

 

Kelly's on the cusp, all right, all of it good.

 

For those who might have missed the blur that was Casey's last six months, he completed his first season of pro ball, earning the honor as Red Sox Minor League Player of the Year, before heading off to the Arizona Fall and Instructional leagues.

 

Along with other top Red Sox prospects, Kelly traveled to Boston in January for what the team called its Rookie Development Program, but what really was a chance for these can't-missers to learn what it'll be like playing ball in the Beantown fishbowl.

 

 

-Cont-

 

 

 

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[Dojji]

We hear a few of these every year. I'm glad it's Kelly who's being hyped, but it remains to be seen how that evolves in the field.

 

Best case scenario IMHO is a couple more miles on an already good FB and no adjustment problems to his new size and strength. That's what we're all thinking when we hear of a pitcher gaining that much strength and size.

[Eck20and8]

watching the Orioles feed for today's ST game

 

will he start in Salem or Portland?

[a700hitter]

He was throwing 93 today.

[BSN07]

watching the Orioles feed for today's ST game

 

will he start in Salem or Portland?

 

I would guess Salem. He will be in Portland at some point this season. But I doubt the Sox rush him through the minor league levels.

[jacksonianmarch]

We hear a few of these every year. I'm glad it's Kelly who's being hyped, but it remains to be seen how that evolves in the field.

 

Best case scenario IMHO is a couple more miles on an already good FB and no adjustment problems to his new size and strength. That's what we're all thinking when we hear of a pitcher gaining that much strength and size.

 

Velocity is one of those things that you can try and predict, but it is probably one of the least predictable things out there. One one hand, you have a guy like Strausburg who was topping out high 80s as a HSer, now he's well into the triple digits. Then you have a plethora of guys who have a projectable body yet never improve their velocity. From a Yankee standpoint, Tyler Clippard was one of those guys. Topped out at 91 when he was drafted and topped out at 91 when we shipped him out 5 yrs later.

 

Kelly "should" improve his velocity. As is, his stuff safely projects him in the middle of the rotation with a ceiling of a #2. If his velocity improves like he "should" bringing him into a range where he's sitting 93-94, then he'll be ace material. The reason why so many people are on his balls is because he has advanced secondary stuff at a young age and good command at a young age. Also, it doesnt hurt to have the BoSox hype machine there either.

[msubulldogs21]

Also' date=' it doesnt hurt to have the BoSox hype machine there either.[/quote']

 

I'd be more willing to believe the hype on Boston prospects over the majority of other teams considering the solid crop of young guys this organization has churned out in recent years.

[Imperial59]

Also' date=' it doesnt hurt to have the BoSox hype machine there either.[/quote']

 

It wasn't "the BoSox hype machine" that got him ranked 24th on BA's top 100 prospects list. He's got a lot of potential and he's still only 20.