FORT MYERS, Fla. – Joe Kelly walked off the mound in the middle of an inning and directly into the trainers’ room on Monday because of a sore biceps muscle.
What looked like bad news for the Red Sox and their No. 5 starter seems not to be after all. Kelly threw 32 pitches in the bullpen on Thursday morning and is scheduled to start on Sunday against the Phillies.
With pitching coach Juan Nieves watching, Kelly threw his full assortment of pitches and came away with no issues.
“It did (go well),” manager John Farrell said in Dunedin, where the Red Sox played the Mets Thursday. “As planned. The normal number of pitches thrown. Came out of it feeling fine. No restrictions, intensity was good, arm action. We’ll keep Sunday in line unless something unforeseen happens.”
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Kelly felt biceps soreness in his right arm after his last start, but didn’t feel it was anything to be too concerned about. Thursday’s session seemed to confirm that. Kelly did not have an MRI.
“Felt good in my bullpen. I didn’t throw at, obviously, 100 percent, which I never do in my bullpens,” Kelly said. “What I got out of there was how my body feels. I tried to see how the arm feels and I knew it was feeling fine. … I felt pretty good out there and threw at about 70 percent. It went well.”
Kelly said the exercise was more to show the coaching staff that he was ready to pitch.
“No, not really,” he said when asked if the biceps bothered him. “We’ve been working on it really hard. So far it’s bouncing back pretty good.”
The Red Sox haven’t announced their rotation for the season, but Kelly is lined up to face the Yankees on April 11. He expects to be ready.
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“My arm’s feeling good right now. Obviously it’s a lot better then when I had to come out of the game. … I feel really confident.”