Kelly was credited with a save in Saturday's 10-2 win over the Pirates after striking out two batters over three perfect innings of relief.
Called up from Triple-A Louisville earlier Saturday, Kelly was summoned from the bullpen after starter Julian Aguiar covered six innings before departing with an eight-run lead. In what was his first MLB appearance since 2018, Kelly made quick work of the Pirates, needing 38 pitches to record his nine outs. Though he was deployed out of the bullpen Saturday, Kelly had been stretched out as a starter at Louisville, and he could be in line to get a look in the Cincinnati rotation with Hunter Greene (elbow) and Andrew Abbott (shoulder) both recently landing on the injured list. The Reds currently have four healthy starters, but with a stretch of six games in five days coming up this week, the team will require two additional starters.