NEW YORK — White Sox reliever Joe Kelly saw bullpen mate Jake Diekman struggle and get designated for assignment in May, only to be resuscitated with the Rays. So he knows the bump from a change of scenery can be real.
“Diekman did it, went from worst to first,” Kelly said. “[The Rays] put in some work with him and said, ‘Stop throwing your sinker and cutter, throw your four-seamer and breaker only, throw two pitches instead of four.’ Now he’s throwing more strikes.
“I talked to him, and that’s all he’s done, throwing four-seamers down the middle and breaking balls instead of sinkers and cutters. They simplified it.”
Kelly is one of several Sox pitchers who could be traded to contending teams before the Aug. 1 trade deadline. Lucas Giolito, Lance Lynn and Keynan Middleton are also possibilities because of their contract statuses.
An established veteran left-hander, Diekman was the only addition of substance at last season’s trade deadline, when the Sox were buyers. He pitched to a 6.52 ERA in 26 games after coming from the Red Sox for catcher Reese McGuire and a player to be named (Taylor Broadway) and posted a 7.94 ERA in 13 games with the Sox this season.
With the Rays, he has a 2.21 ERA in 25 games. He hasn’t allowed a run in 19 of his last 20 appearances.
Throwing more strikes helps, but “that’s a highly rated offensive and defensive WAR team,” Kelly said. “A really great team with a chance to win the World Series. Good organization — that’s what Tampa is known for. Organizations and teams like the Dodgers [Kelly’s former team] have that in them. They save hits. They make the regular play, and they take away hits.
“If you know baseball, you can see that [if] you go to a team like that, you’re going to do good and look good.”
Kelly (elbow) was eligible to come off the injured list Thursday, but there’s “a good possibility” he’s activated this weekend in Minnesota, manager Pedro Grifol said.
Middleton likes it here
While some wouldn’t object to being traded to a contender, Middleton, a high-leverage reliever who came to the Sox on a minor-league deal in the offseason and has a 2.91 ERA in 36 games, wants to stay.
“Absolutely,” he said. “I came over here because of the people who are here.”
He mainly meant pitching coach Ethan Katz, his first coach after he was drafted by the Angels, and former Mariners teammate Kendall Graveman. Middleton said he appreciates the communication among him, Sox trainers and the pitching coaches.
“We’ll see what happens,” he said.
Vaughn’s X-ray negative
Outfielder/first baseman Andrew Vaughn, who fouled a pitch off his left foot Tuesday, just below the pad he wears, had the foot X-rayed after missing his second straight game. He has a bruise and is day-to-day.
“He wears that pad, and there was a little crease, and he got crushed right there,” Grifol said. “Hit him perfectly.”
Jake Burger started at first Thursday.
This and that
With two hits against the Mets, shortstop Tim Anderson had his seventh multi-hit game in his last 16.
† Eloy Jimenez returned after missing two games with a tight left groin and also had two hits, raising his average to .333 over his last 16 games.
