Red Sox righty Zack Kelly went unclaimed on outright waivers following his recent DFA, reports Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com. He has more than three years of major league service and, as such, can now become a free agent.
Kelly, 32 next March, has a solid big league track record and pitched well in limited action with Boston this season before a fracture in his right elbow ended his season. He tossed 16 1/3 innings and recorded a 3.31 ERA with a 19.7% strikeout rate and 9.9% walk rate. Dating back to his 2022 major league debut, the former undrafted free agent has pitched 131 big league innings with a 4.04 earned run average, a 22.4% strikeout rate, a 10.2% walk rate and a 45.4% ground-ball rate.
Kelly averages about 96 mph on his four-seamer and sinker alike — the latter of which he only began throwing in 2025. He used to rely on a changeup as his go-to secondary pitch, but he’s more recently ramped up the usage of a new 90-91 mph cutter and paired that with an 81 mph slider to round out his repertoire.
It’s not yet clear exactly how long Kelly will be sidelined. His original IL placement came in late July and was first attributed to elbow inflammation, but follow-up testing eventually revealed the fracture. Wherever he signs next, he’ll be controllable for at least three more years if he’s added back to a major league roster. However, he’s also out of minor league options, which means he’ll have to stick in the majors or else be designated for assignment again.
The fact that Kelly passed through waivers makes it quite likely that he’ll sign a minor league deal once he’s officially a free agent — whether back with the Red Sox or with a new organization. A silver lining to doing so will be that he’ll be able to remain in contact with that team throughout the looming lockout; players on 40-man rosters won’t be in contact with their teams and won’t be allowed to play in any games until a new collective bargaining agreement has been finalized.
