Kelley scattered two hits while striking out a pair of batters during a scoreless inning in his Grapefruit League debut Thursday.

EDGE Analysis

The Nats' addition of Joe Blanton earlier this week gives the team another veteran arm for the late innings, but it remains to be seen if the versatility of Blanton as a higher-volume reliever than Kelley gives manager Dusty Baker enough confidence in the bullpen as a whole to count on Kelley as the team's closer. Along with Blake Treinen, Koda Glover, and Joe Nathan, Kelley is expected to compete for the ninth-inning role this spring.

Kelley will compete for the Nationals' closer job in spring training, but manager Dusty Baker expressed concern about his ability to stay healthy all season, The Washington Post reports. "He seems a likely candidate, but we have to see - can his arm sustain?" Baker said. If not, "we'll be looking for somebody else, and be without [Kelley], too. That's the thing you don't want. Then you got to replace two people."

EDGE Analysis

On the surface, Kelley's experience and strikeout stuff would seem to make him the favorite to win the job, but with two Tommy John surgeries on his chart and coming off a season in which he made a career-high 67 appearances, the Nats may not want to put too much pressure on the 32-year-old. Given the uncertainty over his role, at the moment Kelley is a safer pick in fantasy league that use saves plus holds as a category, rather than just saves.

Kelley, who walked off the mound during his final appearance of the 2016 season with an apparent arm injury, had tests after that game which revealed no significant issues, MASN Sports reports.

EDGE Analysis

Depending on the Nats' plans in free agency, Kelley could be asked to take on a more prominent role in the bullpen for 2017. Following a season in which he posted the best strikeout rate of his career (35.7% K%) and his lowest walk rate since 2009 (4.9%), there's little reason to doubt Kelley's ability to handle the ninth inning if he's given the opportunity to close.

Kelley left Thursday's elimination game against the Dodgers early with an apparent injury, J.P. Hoornstra of the Southern California News Group reports.

EDGE Analysis

Kelley had just giving up a two-run triple to Trea Turner before being forced to leave after three pitches. It is unclear what issue was bothering him, but it was severe enough to keep him from continuing.

Kelley came on to record the final out in a 2-1 ballgame Wednesday, earning his seventh save of the season.

EDGE Analysis

Left-hander Mark Rzepcynski started the ninth for the Nationals, with regular closer Mark Melancon getting the night off after having pitched the previous two days. Rzepcynski recorded the first two outs before Kelley came on to face the right-handed Maikel Franco, whom he got to ground out. Kelley has been solid in 2016 with a 3.21 ERA, but remains a primary setup man moving forward.

Kelley got his second one-out save in as many days Friday, allowing one hit before striking out Eduardo Nunez to preserve a win over the Giants.

EDGE Analysis

As he had the night before, Nats manager Dusty Baker used a left-handed reliever (Felipe Rivero on Friday, Oliver Perez on Thursday) to face a couple of lefties prior to summoning Kelley, which suggests that closing opportunities could depend on matchups until Jonathan Papelbon gets his job back or the team adds a high-profile closer at the trade deadline. Nonetheless, it was Kelley who notched his second straight save Friday and sixth of the season, so he could make for a useful short-term saves play.

Kelley came on to record the final out of Thursday's win over the Giants for his fifth save of the year.

EDGE Analysis

Jonathan Papelbon started the inning, but got yanked, with the Nats ultimately piecing it together with Oliver Perez and then Kelley. With Papelbon struggling as the closer, Kelley could be in for a full-time promotion to the ninth-inning role. Snatch him up in fantasy before the announcement.

Kelley allowed two runs on three hits while striking out four over 1.1 innings to earn his fourth save of the year Wednesday at the Mets.

EDGE Analysis

Kelley came on to protect a two-run lead with runners on second and third and two out in the eighth inning and struck out Alejandro De Aza to end the threat. However, he then gave up a two-run homer to James Loney with one out in the ninth inning to make things interesting before securing the save. He's now allowed runs to score on him in three of his last four outings, and his ERA is at 3.00 on the year.

Kelley allowed one run on two hits while striking out three over 1.1 innings to earn his third save of the year Sunday at the Brewers.

EDGE Analysis

Kelly was protecting a one-run lead, and after retiring the first two hitters in the ninth inning, he gave up a solo homer and a triple before getting Scooter Gennett to fly out to end the contest. After blowing a save in his last outing, giving up a run in this contest gives him a pair of shaky outings in a row, though he still has an excellent 2.60 ERA.

Nationals manager Dusty Baker acknowledged after Thursday's game that Kelley would be his interim closer while Jonathan Papelbon (intercostal) was on the DL, The Washington Post reports. "This is what we settled upon," Baker said. "Mike [Maddux, the pitching coach] and I talked about it, and we think he's best suited for that until Pap gets back."

EDGE Analysis

He's pitched three times in the last four days, including 1.7 innings in Wednesday's extra-inning win over the Cubs in a non-save situation, so Kelley isn't likely to be available Friday should the Nats have a late-inning lead to protect. With Papelbon's return date uncertain, however, Kelley should get plenty of save chances over the coming weeks.