Christian Kelley

WTM’s PLAYER PROFILE

2015
A-:  232/330/242, 194 AB, 2 2B, 25 BB, 43 K

Kelley was the starting catcher for Morgantown.  Other than drawing walks, he struggled at the plate.  He struck out once every four and a half at-bats, which is a lot for a guy who didn’t hit for any power at all.  RHPs gave him a lot of trouble, holding him to a .547 OPS compared to .673 against LHPs.  He had some issues behind the plate as well, with eight errors and 14 passed balls.  He threw out 26% of base stealers.

2016
A:  236/310/305, 259 AB, 12 2B, 2 HR, 25 BB, 55 K, 0-5 SB
A+:  355/371/419, 31 AB, 2 2B, 2 BB, 9 K

For most of the season, Kelley was the starting catcher at West Virginia.  He got very good reviews for his receiving and he threw out 36% of base stealers, but he didn’t hit much, with no power.  He started hitting a little better near the end of the time there, batting .269 with both of his HRs in his last 14 games.  In the second week of August, the Pirates promoted Kelley to Bradenton, where he shared time with Taylor Gushue.  He hit well there, although he also struck out a lot.  He threw out 38% of base stealers after the promotion.

2017
A+:  243/340/295, 325 AB, 11 2B, 2 HR, 39 BB, 80 K, 1-7 SB

The Pirates invited Kelley to spring training as a non-roster player, which is a sign of how much they like his defensive play.  He then went back to Bradenton, where he was the regular catcher all season.  He played the season at age 23, which isn’t young for the level, but for a college draftee he was relatively inexperienced as a catcher.  He hit well in the early season, with a 314/419/393 line through May, but he completely stopped hitting after that, batting 188/274/220 over the season’s last three months.  On the season he hit LHPs reasonably well, with a .735 OPS, but struggled badly against RHPs, posting a .598 OPS against them.  He threw out 25% of base stealers and had nine passed balls; by comparison, backup catcher John Bormann threw out 32% and had one passed ball in a little over a third of the playing time.

2018
AA:  235/308/367, 311 AB, 13 2B, 2 3B, 8 HR, 25 BB, 64 K

The Pirates liked Kelley’s defense enough to move him up to Altoona despite his struggles at the plate in 2017.  For the second straight year, he hit well early in the year.  After a weak April, he hit 293/354/466 in May, including uncharacteristic power.  Starting in June, he struggled the rest of the year.  Overall, he showed more power, but sacrificed patience.  He continued to play well defensively and threw out 35% of base stealers.

2019
AAA:  179/251/282, 252 AB, 9 2B, 1 3B, 5 HR, 21 BB, 79 K

Kelley shared catching duties at Indianapolis with Steve Baron.  Obviously, he struggled severely at the plate.  He did a good job of receiving and committed only three passed balls, while throwing out 29% of base stealers.  The Pirates did not call him up in September.

The Pirates’ signing of Luke Maile and John Ryan Murphy raises doubts about whether they see Kelley as a potential major leaguer.  He’s been eligible for the Rule 5 draft twice and hasn’t been selected.  He still has two years before minor league free agency.