Red Sox right-handed knuckleballer Steven Wright has been consistent and effective as a starter. Joe Kelly has been inconsistent and greatly ineffective.
No matter. John Farrell has booted the former to the bullpen and left the latter in the rotation.
Wright has pitched between 5 and 6 1/3 innings and allowed two or three runs in each of his six starts to post a 2-2 record and 4.01 ERA. Kelly has given up at least five runs in four of his 10 outings. He is 2-4 with a 5.40 ERA.
But Farrell belives Kelly has more upside and Wright is versatile enough to make the transition. "Both have pitched well enough to either remain in the rotation or earn a rotation spot," he told ESPN. "But when you set aside a couple of bumps Joe Kelly has had of late ... he's got the ability to be a dominant starter."
Among those bumps was a start against Minnesota in which he surrendered seven runs on eight hits in 1 2/3 innings. But Kelly rebounded in his last two opportunties by yielding only two runs in 11 innings.