Giants add RHP Casey Kelly to roster, mull more moves

Derek Law’s appearance last night could’ve gone better. Three earned runs in 1.1 innings with a home run, walk, and strikeout makes it 10 of his last 20 appearances (going back to last season) where he’s allowed runs, which is a Melanconian rate the Giants cannot afford.

As such, Johnny Cueto was moved to the 60-day DL to clear a spot on the 40-man roster and RHP Casey Kelly was called up from Triple-A Sacramento to take Law’s spot. You might vaguely remember Casey Kelly in a random start back in 2012 when he was a Padre, but otherwise, he’s had an unremarkable career since being drafted in 2008 by the Red Sox.

That’s right. He was drafted the same year as Buster Posey... and also in the first round. He was drafted by the Red Sox at the height of their money-fueled Moneyball mania, when Theo Epstein was looking for stuff to do now that he’d helped to build a dynasty. Kelly was drafted as a shortstop and converted to a pitcher, ultimately becoming a part of that big trade between the Padres and Red Sox (after Epstein’s assistant Jed Hoyer became the Padres’ GM) that netted Boston Adrian Gonzalez. Anthony Rizzo was the main reason the Padres made the move, but the Padres obviously thought enough of him to take a shot.

The 28-year old has a 6.39 ERA in 62 major league innings and a 40:20 strikeout:walk ratio. He last pitched at this level with the Braves back in 2016. With the River Cats this season, he’s struck out 104 and walked 37 across 130 innings with a 4.78 ERA. Kelly will probably be a swing man or piggyback reliever, should Ty Blach or any other starter falter this weekend.

When he last pitched with the Braves, he featured a 90-92 mph fastball, a 91 mph sinker, a changeup, and a curveball. If nothing else, he might be able to spell Suarez and Rodriguez as the Giants try to end this season without anymore injuries.

Along those lines, Kerry Crowley of the Mercury News reported that Bruce Bochy met with members of the front office for an hour-long closed door meeting earlier this afternoon. The only thing Bochy mentioned was this:

“We just talked about some things which we do three-to-four times a year,” Bochy said. “We talked about the club and ways we can get better.”

Crowley speculated,

After losing five of their last six, it’s possible the front office has begun to realize the uphill battle may be too steep to climb for a team that’s hovered around .500 for most of the season. If the Giants feel there’s too much ground to overcome over the final two months of the year, the club could put a handful of their players on waivers to clear roster spots and opportunities for prospects and younger talent.

The Giants might just be trying to get through this weekend’s pageantry without embarrassing themselves too much more, but it’s hard to believe that they’re willing to keep this particular crew together for the rest of the season if for no other reason than that there are players who aren’t in next year’s plans who don’t need to be here for the remainder of this year, particularly if the Giants get something back in exchange for their departure. Even clearing roster space might allow them more versatility in adding in rookies to the 40-man roster for a look-see.

After the past week, I’ll take a peep show.