The Pittsburgh Pirates have a right-hander on their 40-man roster that could make a big impact in the near future. That is Antwone Kelly. Kelly made his MLB debut, but was recently optioned back to Triple-A. The hard-throwing right-hander currently ranks as the Bucs' seventh-best prospect by MLB Pipeline, and their eighth-best by Baseball America. The Pirates will more than likely recall Kelly in the near future, so but what sort of role should he serve for the Bucs?
On the surface, Kelly's 2026 numbers are not overly impressive. He owns a 4.50 ERA, 5.62 FIP, and 1.48 WHIP over his first 54 innings at Triple-A Indianapolis. Although he has a respectable 10% walk rate, he has only struck out 19.6% of opponents and has a 23.7% whiff rate. Home runs have given him some trouble, with a 1.50 HR/9 and an 11.7% barrel percentage.
However, Kelly recently won the Indians' pitcher of the month for May. He has pitched much better recently. Since the start of May, Kelly owns a 3.00 ERA, 4.23 FIP, and 1.13 WHIP over his last 30 innings of work. He has lowered his walk rate to just 5.7% and has upped his strikeout percentage to 23.8%. Kelly is also inducing more soft contact, indicated by his 7.2% barrel rate.
Kelly has some of the best stuff in the Pirates' system. He has primarily pitched as a starter this season, and his fastball averages 97.9 MPH and tops out around 101 MPH. Because of its velocity and movement, both BA and Pipeline view it as a potential plus-plus offering. Kelly's arsenal also consists of an upper-80s cutter, a mid-80s change-up, and a mid-90s sinker. The right-hander has also utilized a slider in the past. Kelly has displayed above-average command over his entire arsenal.
The first role the Pirates should consider slotting Kelly into is the one that Carmen Mlodzinski served last year. Kelly should be available to pitch 2-3 innings, 2-3 times a week. With Mlodzinski and Dotel also in the bullpen, the Pirates can get plenty of quality innings out of their bullpen between the three. Dotel has pitched well as a multi-inning arm, and Mlodzinski has been dominant in a similar role in the past.
The second role the Pirates should consider using him in is a piggyback role. That would mean the Pirates can utilize both Dotel and Mlodzinski more often. The Pirates have used Dotel and Mlodzinski as piggyback relievers, rather than multi-inning arms. Having Kelly as the primary piggyback arm means the Pirates can use Dotel and Mlodzinski more times a week, and Kelly can help shorten starts when needed.
The best option for the Bucs would be the first option. Using Kelly, Dotel, and Mlodzinski for 2-3 innings per game, and 2-3 times a week, means the Pirates would get anywhere between 12 and 27 innings from their bullpen each week. Given how much help the Pirates' pitching staff needs right now, that could be a season-changing amount of innings.
