Kelly signed a two-year, $11.5 million contract with the Cubs on Friday, Jeff Passan of ESPN.com reports.
Over 91 games between Detroit and Texas in 2024, Kelly slashed .238/.313/.374 with nine home runs and 37 RBI. While his numbers may not jump off the page, he'll still provide competition in spring training to Miguel Amaya, who managed just a .645 OPS last season.
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Rangers' Carson Kelly: Halts hitless skid Friday
Rotowire
Kelly started at designated hitter and went 3-for-4 with a solo home run in Friday's 5-2 win over the Angels.
Kelly, who entered the game hitless in his previous 14 at-bats, snapped that run with a second-inning single. He then launched his second home run as a member of the Rangers in the fourth inning, extending the team's early lead to 4-0. Since being acquired from the Tigers at the trade deadline, Kelly has stolen at-bats from starter Jonah Heim, who has a .543 OPS since the beginning of August.
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Rangers' Carson Kelly: Entering lineup Thursday
Rotowire
Kelly will start at catcher and bat eighth in Thursday's game against the Blue Jays.
Texas will make room in the lineup for both of its catchers Thursday, as top backstop Jonah Heim will get a day off behind the plate and serve as the Rangers' designated hitter. Even though Heim sits atop the depth chart, Kelly has still received a fair amount of playing time by the standards of No. 2 catchers since he was acquired from the Tigers on July 28. In 26 games with Texas, Kelly has slashed .250/.308/.333 with one home run, seven RBI and 10 runs.
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Rangers' Carson Kelly: Losing work to Heim
Rotowire
Kelly is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Guardians.
Kelly appeared to have worked his way into a timeshare at catcher with Jonah Heim earlier this month while the latter was slumping, but the playing time behind the dish seems to be tilting back in Heim's favor. Heim will pick up his third start at catcher in four games while Kelly returns to the bench after he had caught in Saturday's 13-5 loss.
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Rangers' Carson Kelly: In lineup again
Rotowire
Kelly started at catcher and went 0-for-4 in Sunday's 6-5 extra-inning win over the Twins.
Kelly made his fifth start in the last six games, including four as the catcher and one at DH. Sunday's hitless effort put a halt to a six-game hit streak, but he could continue to steal at-bats from primary backstop Jonah Heim, who is mired in a 4-for-27 (.148/.233/.296) run.
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Rangers' Carson Kelly: Extends hit streak in loss
Rotowire
Kelly started at designated hitter and went 2-for-4 with a double and two RBI in Saturday's 5-2 loss to the Twins.
Kelly entered the starting lineup, replacing primary DH Josh Smith, and extended his hit streak to six games. During that stretch, Kelly is 9-for-23 with one home run, six RBI and four runs. He's eaten into the playing time of primary catcher Jonah Heim, who is 2-for-15 over the same stretch. Overall, since the Rangers acquired him from the Tigers, Kelly is batting .344/.382/.500 over 10 contests.
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Rangers' Carson Kelly: Fourth start in five games
Rotowire
Kelly will start at catcher and bat seventh in Wednesday's game versus the Red Sox.
Kelly will get his second straight start and fourth start over the last five games after beginning his Rangers career by going 7-for-21 with a home run. Jonah Heim remains the favorite to see the bulk of the starts at catcher for Texas over the remainder of the season, but the Rangers are riding the hot hand for now.
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Rangers' Carson Kelly: Clubs eighth homer
Rotowire
Kelly went 3-for-4 with a two-run homer and an additional run scored during Sunday's 8-7 loss to the Yankees.
Kelly started the final two games of the series and was productive in both contests, going 4-for-8 with a walk, a homer, four RBI and three runs. The 30-year-old was acquired ahead of the trade deadline and was expected to serve as the primary backup to starting catcher Jonah Heim, but Kelly has started five of Texas' 10 games since being acquired. Kelly has a .738 OPS for the season and has gone 6-for-17 with the Rangers, which is significantly more productive than Heim's .619 OPS this year. Kelly could continue carving out a larger share of the playing time if those offensive trends continue.
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Rangers' Carson Kelly: Makes Rangers debut
Rotowire
Kelly started at catcher and went 1-for-3 in Wednesday's 10-1 loss to the Cardinals.
Kelly made his debut for Texas after being acquired from the Tigers on Sunday. Jonah Heim remains the starter behind the dish, while Kelly offers a well-seasoned backup that's provides better offense (100 OPS+) than previous backup Andrew Knizner (12 OPS+).
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Rangers' Carson Kelly: Dealt to Texas
Rotowire
The Rangers acquired Kelly from the Tigers on Sunday in exchange for catcher Liam Hicks and right-hander Tyler Owens, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports.
Kelly will head to Texas after producing a .242 average with seven home runs, 29 RBI and 21 runs scored over 178 at-bats in 59 games with the Tigers this season. The 30-year-old is likely to replace Andrew Knizner as the No. 2 catcher behind Jonah Heim. Kelly's departure from the Tigers should open up a spot on the active roster for Dillon Dingler, who is expected to be called up from Triple-A Toledo. Dingler will likely challenge Jake Rogers for the top spot on the Tigers' catching depth chart.
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Tigers' Carson Kelly: Sitting again Sunday
Rotowire
Kelly is not in the starting lineup for Sunday's series finale against Minnesota, Evan Woodbery of MLive.com reports.
Kelly will sit Sunday for the third time in four games. Jake Rogers will start behind home plate and bat eighth against Twins right-hander Bailey Ober.
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Tigers' Carson Kelly: Sitting Saturday
Rotowire
Kelly is not in the starting lineup for Saturday's game against Minnesota.
Kelly will take a seat Saturday after going 1-for-2 with one walk and one run scored in Friday's 9-3 loss to Minnesota. Jake Rogers will start at catcher Saturday and bat eighth against Twins right-hander Joe Ryan.
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Tigers' Carson Kelly: Taking seat Thursday
Rotowire
Kelly is out of the lineup for Thursday's game against the Guardians.
Kelly will hit the bench for the third time in four games while the Tigers go with Jake Rogers behind the dish. Though Kelly has outproduced Rogers this season, the latter is sporting the hotter bat at the moment, as Rogers will head into Thursday's game having produced an extra-base knock in each of his last three starts.
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Tigers' Carson Kelly: Taking seat Monday
Rotowire
Kelly is absent from the lineup for Monday's contest in Cleveland.
Kelly had started four of the last five games but will begin the series opener against the Guardians on the bench. Jake Rogers will handle catching duties for Detroit with Tarik Skubal on the mound.
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Tigers' Carson Kelly: Sitting Saturday
Rotowire
Kelly isn't in the Tigers' lineup for Saturday's game against Toronto.
After going 0-for-3 with a strikeout during Friday's contest, Kelly will take a seat Saturday while Jake Rogers starts behind the dish and bats sixth.
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Tigers' Carson Kelly: Homers, reaches base three times
Rotowire
Kelly went 1-for-3 with two walks, a solo home run and an additional run scored Thursday against the Guardians.
Kelly, starting for just the second time in five days as he continues to work in a timeshare with Jake Rogers, extended his modest hitting streak to six games while reaching base three times and homering for the third time during that stretch. It was the seventh home run of the season for Kelly, who has also added 28 RBI while producing a useful slash line of .247/.326/.418 through 178 plate appearances.
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Tigers' Carson Kelly: Losing work to Rogers
Rotowire
Kelly is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Guardians.
Though Kelly has an active five-game hitting streak, the playing time behind the plate has tilted in favor of Jake Rogers lately. Rogers will make his third start in four games while Kelly sits.
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Tigers' Carson Kelly: Taking seat Sunday
Rotowire
Kelly is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Reds.
With eight hits -- including three home runs -- in 28 at-bats over his last eight starts, Kelly seems to have at least temporarily overtaken Jake Rogers as the Tigers' preferred catcher. Though Rogers gets the nod behind the dish Sunday, Kelly had started in three of the previous four contests.
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Tigers' Carson Kelly: Tees off Sunday
Rotowire
Kelly went 2-for-4 with a three-run home run and an additional run scored in Sunday's 7-6 win over the Angels.
Kelly provided an offensive jolt with his fifth home run of the year from the fifth spot in the lineup, one spot behind fellow catcher Jake Rogers, who served as the DH. The two players continue to split time behind the plate, which limits the fantasy upside of both of them. Kelly has been the more effective offensive player overall, however, as he has a .711 OPS compared to a .609 mark for Rogers.
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Tigers' Carson Kelly: Out of lineup Tuesday
Rotowire
Kelly isn't part of the starting lineup for Tuesday's game against the Phillies.
Kelly will give way to Jake Rogers behind the dish for the fifth time in eight games. Kelly is batting 10-for-33 (.303) with two home runs in June.
