Joe Kelly's win Monday night was his fifth straight since rejoining the Sox following a demotion to Pawtucket.
But it's not the wins that are the more important indicator. Rather, Kelly's pitch mix has been much better of late.
Rather than relying so heavily on his fastball, Kelly has begun utilizing other pitches, including a changeup which he threw 21 times Monday in his second-best start of the season.
Kelly has a plus-fastball that routinely registers in the mid-90s and can be thrown as hard as 98 mph. But hitters often foul it off, driving up Kelly's pitch count and shortening his outings.
Relying on his changeup and some breaking pitches helps Kelly in two ways: first, he becomes more efficient, as his 7 1/3 innings reflected Monday night. Secondly, he can get more weak contact, as evidenced by his 14 groundouts against the White Sox.
Of course, it's nice to have a plus fastball to fall back on, and the fact that Kelly was throwing 98 mph in the eighth inning was further evidence of that.
