Kevin Kelly Injury News & Updates

Kelly (ankle) was activated Friday from the 15-day injured list, Ryan Bass of Bally Sports Sun reports.

Kelly will return to the Rays' bullpen ahead of Friday night's series opener against the Guardians after missing exactly 15 days due to a left ankle sprain. The 25-year-old rookie reliever holds a solid 3.48 ERA, 1.10 WHIP and 45:14 K:BB through his first 54.1 major-league innings this season.

Kelly (ankle) is on track to return when first eligible on Friday, MLB.com reports.

Kelly was shut down for a week after spraining his left ankle, but he threw a live batting practice session Aug. 22 and another one Aug. 27 with no issues. He'll rejoin the Rays this weekend and be activated when rosters expand Sept. 1.

Kelly was placed on the 15-day injured list Wednesday with a left ankle sprain, Tricia Whitaker of Bally Sports Sun reports.

Kelly evidently must have suffered the injury during Tuesday's appearance in San Francisco. He'll will now be sidelined for at least the remainder of August.

Kelly recorded the final out of Friday's 3-2 win over the White Sox to record his first career save.

Pete Fairbanks got the call in the ninth inning for the Rays as expected, but after hitting one batter and walking another with two outs, he exited the game complaining of numbness in his fingers, forcing Kelly to finish things out. Fairbanks has dealt with this issue before -- he has Raynaud's syndrome, which impacts blood flow to the extremities in colder temperatures -- but if he ends up missing additional time, Jason Adam seems more likely to handle the bulk of the closing duties for the Rays. Kelly hasn't pitched badly as a Rule 5 rookie however, posting a 4.20 ERA, 1.20 WHIP and 13:3 K:BB through his first 15 big-league innings with two wins and a hold, plus Friday's save, in nine appearances.