Kelly will be called up to Boston on Friday and join the Red Sox in Oakland, Tim Britton of the Providence Journal reports.

EDGE Analysis

Kelly stands a realistic shot at being a key bullpen piece as manager John Farrell seeks to shore up the eighth-inning bridge to closer Craig KImbrel. The right-hander has been dominant since returning to Triple-A Pawtucket in early August. He's allowed one run on six hits in 11 innings, walking one and striking out 16.

Kelly has allowed one run on five hits without a walk while striking out 11 in eight innings since he was optioned back to Triple-A Pawtucket at the beginning of August.

EDGE Analysis

Given the precarious state of Boston's relievers leading up to closer Craig Kimbrel, Kelly seems like he could help, but while manager John Farrell acknowledged to Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe how well he's throwing, the manager added "there are some limitations how we get him here right now." The implication being that Kelly will come back to Boston when rosters expand Sept. 1.

Kelly was optioned to Triple-A Pawtucket on Monday, Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe reports.

EDGE Analysis

The Red Sox activated Craig Kimbrel from the DL on Monday, necessitating a move to free up a spot on the 25-man roster. Kelly will be the casualty after appearing in nine games (six starts) and amassing an unsightly 7.62 ERA across 26.0 innings. The 28-year-old will look to get things straightened out at Pawtucket before a potential return to Boston later in the year.

Kelly had a one-pitch appearance Tuesday, retiring Detroit's Ian Kinsler on a slider in Boston's 9-8 loss, Julian Benbow of the Boston Globe reports.

EDGE Analysis

Kelly is adjusting to life out of the bullpen and part of that adjustment is using all of the pitches available to him. When he was called up to Boston over the weekend, he told reporters his mindset is trying to strike everyone out as a reliever. On Monday, he relied heavily on the fastball, hitting 100 mph multiple times, but velocity didn't stop Detroit's Justin Upton from tripling and eventually scoring the winning run. "The same thing applies in this role as it did while he was starting," Boston manager John Farrell said. "His need to use the secondary pitches exists. That's going to always be a part of Joe's plan for success - that he can't rely just on velocity because as we've seen, the swing-and-miss rate is low despite upper-90s to 100 miles an hour." Going forward, Kelly said he'll need to rely on his slider more often in order to keep hitters off balance.

Kelly allowed a run on two hits and one inning of relief in Monday night's 4-2 loss to Detroit.

EDGE Analysis

Kelly was called up from Triple-A Pawtucket over the weekend to bring his flame-throwing arm out of the Boston bullpen. He touched 100 mph on seven of his pitches in his first relief appearance this season. Unfortunately, if your fastball is missing location in the majors, velocity doesn't mean much. "A lot of power, a lot of velocity, (but) some inconsistent command to get behind in the count 2-1 to Upton," manager John Farrell told MassLive.com. "He left a fastball out on the plate and (Upton) was able to drive it the other way." Kelly will continue to work in a relief role for Boston and will get more opportunities to harness his arsenal and succeed in the pen.

Kelly was recalled from Triple-A Pawtucket on Sunday, Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal reports.

EDGE Analysis

All six of Kelly's previous appearances with the Red Sox have come as a starter, but after struggling mightily in that capacity, he'll work as a reliever in this stint with big club. He seemed to take well to bullpen duties during his time at Pawtucket, allowing no runs over five innings and striking out nine batters while walking only one. The Red Sox will likely ease him into the relief mix in lower-leverage situations initially, but with top bullpen arms Craig Kimbrel (knee) and Koji Uehara (pectoral) on the DL, Kelly's role could quickly grow if he finds early success.

Kelly was called up from Triple-A Pawtucket on Sunday, according to Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal.

EDGE Analysis

The speculation about Kelly being called up to Boston started immediately following Saturday night's 11-9 loss to the Twins, a game in which the bullpen coughed up a three-run lead by allowing six runs on eight hits in 1.1 innings. Kelly will be used in a multi-inning role.

Kelly will be called up from Triple-A Pawtucket to Boston on Sunday, according to a source, Rob Bradford of WEEI.com reports.

EDGE Analysis

Boston's bullpen, with some assistance from its utility fielders masquerading as outfielders, imploded during an 11-9 loss to the Twins on Saturday. The casualty from that loss was Heath Hembree, who was optioned to Pawtucket immediately following the game, creating a spot on the roster for Kelly, who has not allowed a run while striking out nine in five innings out of the bullpen for the PawSox.

Kelly may be called up to Boston after the team optioned Heath Hembree to Triple-A Pawtucket following Saturday night's game, Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal reports.

EDGE Analysis

Manager John Farrell did not make an announcement, but he implied Hembree's demotion opens up a spot for Kelly, who has struck out nine and walked one without being charged with a run in five innings pitched out the bullpen for the PawSox.

Kelly, who is converting from starter to reliever at Triple-A Pawtucket, is not on the verge of returning to Boston, Jen McCaffrey of MassLive.com reports.

EDGE Analysis

There was buzz after Kelly recorded a two-inning save in dominating fashion for the PawSox on Friday, speculating that the right-hander would be rejoining Boston's roster this week, but manager John Farrell put an end to that talk. "While this transition is going as we had hoped in terms of his converting into a reliever working strictly out of the stretch, there's been no discussion as a return date to here yet," said the manager. The early results are encouraging, but we need to remember it was Kelly's inconsistency that got him removed from the rotation and optioned to Pawtucket. The Red Sox need to see a few more outings from Kelly before bringing him up to Boston.