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Padres News: Casey Kelly Ready To Go

By Jason Evans |

Casey Kelly was one of the big pieces in the trade for Adrian Gonzalez back in 2010. Kelly came with Reymond Fuentes and Anthony Rizzo. Rizzo was traded for Andrew Cashner. Fuentes was dealt early this off-season to the Kansas City Royals. Kelly is the last remaining piece left.

Since 2012, Kelly has made six appearances and had Tommy John surgery, then hurt himself rehabbing. So what can the Padres expect? Here’s what Bud Black told UT-San Diego:

“The best case is … as we get into May and June, he feels confident,” Black said. “And if needed, he could help us.“I think the long-term view is the way to look at Casey’s future and not the immediate gains, because he’s got to clear the health hurdle, he’s got to be confident in his arm and his stuff. He’s got to be able to repeat outings, repeat performances, to really indicate that he’s back.”

Kelly gives the Padres a young option for the fifth spot. There’s no need to rush him back. He can go even to AAA with Matt Wisler and get some more experience.  

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The Padres have Odrisamer Despaigne plus Brandon Morrow and Josh Johnson coming back from injuries.

Kelly’s been kind of the forgotten man among the options in the rotation. He can be a nice young option they can go to down the road this season. No team goes through five starters. He’s still young, and even if he doesn’t pitch the whole season at the big league level, they may need a starter or two for 2016.

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