Kelly placed on DL with strained hamstring

Reliever Boyer also leaves Saturday's game with forearm tightness

July 15th, 2017

BOSTON -- The Red Sox placed top setup man Joe Kelly on the 10-day disabled list, retroactive to Wednesday, with a left hamstring strain about an hour before Saturday's 4-1 loss in 16 innings against the Yankees.
"He was feeling some left hamstring symptoms, tightness throughout the [All-Star] break. He was trying to get loose [Friday] night, and he felt it," said Red Sox manager John Farrell. "Then when he threw his flat-ground [session] today, it grabbed him pretty good. So he shut that down. He was checked in the training room, was able to reproduce the symptoms just by going through his delivery at a very controlled effort, so we didn't want to take any chances and made the move."
Righty reliever , who was expected to be the 26th player on the roster for Sunday's day-night doubleheader, was recalled on Saturday from Triple-A Pawtucket to replace Kelly.
In addition, righty had to leave Saturday's game after one inning due to forearm tightness. Farrell said Boyer will be re-evaluated prior to Sunday's doubleheader, at which time the Red Sox will decide if another roster move is necessary.

By taking a conservative approach with Kelly, the Red Sox hope their hardest thrower can make a quick recovery.
In his first full season as a reliever, Kelly is 3-1 with a 1.49 ERA. Opponents are hitting .189 against him.
Kelly is eligible to come off the DL on July 22, when the Sox face the Angels.
While Kelly is out, the Red Sox will have to lean more on Matt Barnes and , the other two key right-handed cogs who form the bridge to All-Star closer .
The Red Sox did get some good news on the bullpen front Saturday, as righty threw off the mound for the first time in a month.
The side-winder had Tommy John surgery on May 24, 2015, and had been making steady progress before a setback last month.
Saturday was an encouraging development.
"Good intensity," said Farrell. "He's going to have another bullpen [session] on Tuesday in Fort Myers, then will rejoin us here and continue the progression. So we're looking at probably three 'pens total, today being one of them. After Friday's bullpen, which is a projected one with us out on the West Coast, hopefully he's ready for hitters at that point. But he's making good progress."
Worth noting
, who has been on the DL with vertigo since April 21, could return to the Red Sox as early as Sunday. Holt has played 23 games on rehab stints for Triple-A Pawtucket since going on the DL, but he has been interrupted several times due to recurring symptoms. The Red Sox hope he has now turned the corner.