Keone Kela #29

Serves as the Chief Community Officer for the Social Justice League (SJL), an organization that connects with communities and non-profit organizations to develop a platform for highlighting needs and providing outlets through grassroots impact initiatives...SJL Co-Founders were introduced to Kela by a mutual contact who shared a passion for social impact...Co-hosted "Just Us & Peace", a neighborhood giveaway event and Social Justice League initiative that helped promote the 2020 Census, on Sept. 27, 2020, held at the Van Ness Recreation Center in Los Angeles…the event provided COVID-19 testing, census forms, voter education and registration, haircuts, food, school supplies and essential items at no charge to local families.

2021

Limited to just 12 games with the Padres, going 2-2 with a 5.06 ERA (6 ER in 10.2 IP) with 13 strikeouts...On the injured list from April 22-May 1 with right shoulder inflammation...Placed on 60-day injured list May 23 with the forearm injury…underwent Tommy John surgery May 19 (performed by Dr. Keith Meister) and missed the remainder of the season.

2020

Made just 3 appearances for PIT, allowing 1 run in 2.0 IP in a campaign that was shorted due to a forearm injury...Picked up his second win in PIT's walk-off victory on Aug. 16 vs. CHC...Made 13 straight scoreless outings with the Pirates from Apr. 21 thru Aug. 19 (12.0 IP) and posted a 0.39 ERA (1 ER, 23.0 IP) in his final 24 big league appearances...Picked up his only save on Sept. 25 vs. CHC — his first since pitching with TEX on July 29, 2018...Held RHH to a .164 AVG (11-for-67).

2019

Was a member of a Major League Opening Day roster for a fourth time - his first with Pittsburgh (was with Texas in 2015-16 and 2018)... Retired all three Cincinnati batters he faced on 4/5 while making his 200th career appearance...Was ejected for his part in on-field skirmish on 4/7 vs. Cincinnati...Was scored upon in five of his first eight appearances through 4/16 (6.2ip/6er - 8.10 ERA)...Left the game on 5/4 with right shoulder discomfort after facing one batter...Was placed on the 10-day injured list on 5/8 (retro to 5/6) with right shoulder inflammation...Made one rehab appearance with Triple-A Indianapolis on 5/25 at Columbus and gave up three runs in 1.0ip while starting a game for the first time as a pro...Was recalled from rehab on 5/31 and was shut down from throwing for 10 days...Was transferred to the 60-day I.L. on 6/15...Made three more rehab appearances (2.1ip/2er/6so) before being recalled from rehab and reinstated from the I.L. on 7/22...Was suspended two games for violation of his Player's Contract; served the two-game suspension on 7/22-23 and was reinstated from suspended list on 7/24... Pitched a scoreless inning on 7/24 vs. St. Louis - his first big league game since 5/4...Was suspended 10 games by MLB for his involvement in altercation in Cincinnati on 7/30; served the suspension from 8/3-13...Picked up his second win in Pittsburgh's walk-off victory on 8/16 vs. Chicago...Made 13 straight scoreless outings with the Pirates from 4/21 thru 8/19 (12.0ip) and posted a 0.39 ERA (23.0ip/1er) in his final 24 big league appearances...Picked up his only save on 9/25 vs. Chicago - his first since pitching with Texas on 7/29/18...Gave up just one run in 18 games (18.0ip) and whiffed 22 batters after returning from the I.L. on 7/24...Held right-handed hitters to a .164 (11-for-67) batting average.

2018

Went 3-4 with 24 saves and a 3.29 ERA (52.0ip/19er) in 54 games between Texas and Pittsburgh... Held right-handed hitters to a .147 average (16-for-109); .125 (10-for-80) in 38 games with Texas and .207 (6-for-29) in his 16 games with Pittsburgh...Converted 24 of his 25 save opportunities with Texas...Ranked second in the Majors in save percentage (95.8) behind New York's Aroldis Chapman (27-for-28, 96.4 percent) heading into the action on 7/30...Ranked fifth in the American League in saves prior to being acquired by the Pirates...Was charged with a blown save on 7/24 vs. Oakland; ended a stretch of 23 straight saves converted to open 2018, the longest seasonopening streak in Texas history...His blown save on 7/24 also ended an overall 25-game saves streak, tied for the second-longest in Texas history behind Joe Nathan (31 from 4/15 to 9/12/12) and John Wetteland (25 from 7/25/97 to 5/20/98)...Recorded a 2.10 ERA (25.2ip/6er) in his last 26 games with the Rangers...Was acquired by Pittsburgh on 7/31...Did not allow a run in his first five outings (5.0ip) with the Pirates and was scored upon just once in his first 13 N.L. appearances thru 8/31 (13.0ip/1er - 0.64 ERA)...Was charged with four runs in 0.1ip on 9/1 at Atlanta and suffered a blown save and loss; entered game with a 3-1 lead in the eighth inning...Made his final appearance on 9/3; was shut down by the team on account of heavy workload.

2017

Despite starting the season at Triple-A and enduring a pair of DL stints, Kela finished among A.L. relief leaders in both opponents avg. (1st, .135) and opp. OPS (7th, .479)… missed nearly 2 months on the disabled list due to a pair of trips to the disabled list with right shoulder soreness (6/30-7/19 and 8/5-9/11).

TEXAS // Posted a team-high 11 holds despite finishing T5th on the club with 39 relief appearances...initially recalled from Round Rock (AAA) on 4/17 and did not allow a run over 6 G (6.1 IP) in April…held opponents 0-for-16 to start the season… surrendered season-high 4 runs on a Marwin Gonzalez grand slam on 5/2 at HOU and posted a 5.28 ERA (9 ER/15.1 IP) from 5/2-6/9…had 12.2 scoreless innings over 13 G from 6/10- 8/3, opponents batted .095 (4-42) w/ one XBH in that span… ERA over final 26 outings beg. 5/19 was 1.75 (5 ER/25.2 IP)… converted 2 of 3 save chances: 5/21 at DET and 9/21 at SEA… matched career high with 4 SO (all consecutive) to earn win in club's comeback win on 6/10 at WAS…also had 4 K's, 5/19 at DET.

ROUND ROCK // Opened the season at Round Rock and had a 2.25 ERA (1 ER/4.0 IP) in 4 outings…recorded multiple strikeouts in every outing, whiffing 8 of 18 batters faced overall.

2016

Was 5-1 with a 6.09 ERA (23 ER/34.0 IP) over 35 relief appearances in his 2nd major league season…missed nearly 3 months following April elbow surgery, but returned to post the 3rd-most relief appearances on the club after the All-Star break…ranked 11th among A.L. relievers (min. 30.0 IP) and led all Texas relievers with 11.91 SO/9…his 15 holds ranked T3rd on staff despite time missed

2015

Went 7-5 with one save and a 2.39 ERA (16 ER/60.1 IP) and 68 strikeouts over 68 relief appearances while emerging as one of the club's top set up men in his rookie campaign…after making the team as a non-roster invite in spring training, he had 2 stints with the club: Opening Day-7/31 and 8/11-end of season…ranked among the A.L. relief leaders in wins (T2nd, 7) and holds (T8th, 22), and averaged 10.14strikeouts per 9 innings.

2014

Averaged 12.5 SO/9 across 2 different levels and finished tied for the 2nd-most saves (10) in the farm system…combined to go 2-2 with a 2.02 ERA (11 ER/49.0 IP) and 68 strikeouts over 44 relief appearances with Myrtle Beach (High-A) and Frisco (AA)…whiffed 32.4% (68 of 21) of all batters faced…held opponents to a .176 average (31-176)…allowed just one home run in 49.0 innings of work… rated the 14th-best prospect in the organization by MLB.com following the season…opened season with Pelicans before 5/3 promotion to Frisco…on Frisco DL, 6/13-24 with calf strain… fanned 4 of 5 batters faced over 2 scoreless appearances in the Texas League playoffs.

2013

Averaged 12.0 SO/9.0 IP at 3 different stops in the Texas minor league system…opened the season with Hickory (Low-A) and made one relief appearance before he was on DL, 4/6-5/15 with a right elbow impingement… was on DL with a left ankle sprain from 6/28-7/25 and completed a rehab assignment with the AZL Rangers from 7/8-16 and Spokane 7/17-26…remained in Spokane (Short-A) following activation for the remainder of the season…allowed runs in just 3 of 12 outings with the Indians and averaged 14.0 SO/9…joined the AFL's Surprise Saguaros on 10/21 and allowed just one run over 8.2 innings of work and 7 relief outings…posted a 1.50 ERA (1 ER/6.0 IP) with 8 SO/0 BB over 6 relief outings with Magallanes in the Venezuelan Winter League.

2012

Spent 1st pro season with AZL Rangers (rookie)…averaged 11.9 SO/9.0 IP…registered strikeouts against 35.9% of BF…all 4 hits permitted were singles.