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Last spring there were two pitchers that made the team that were talked about as major surprises.  One was Chris Jakubauskas, now with the Pittsburgh Pirates, who was indeed came out of nowhere.  The other was Shawn Kelley, who was only 40 innings deep at the AA level at the time.

I was ready for Kelley, however.  He had caught my eye at some point the previous season and was one of the guys I was keeping a close eye on for the 2009 season.   In Decemeber I wrote of Kelley:

AAA Tacoma is the next step up for the 24 year old righty, but he appears to already possess the makings of a major league reliever and could make the big club with a solid Spring Training, assuming he is one of the team’s non-roster invitees.

He was indeed one of over a dozen right handed relievers brought to camp and he stood out enough to make the Opening Day roster.  Beyond that, he was arguably Seattle’s best reliever early in the season before he went down with the oblique tear.

It was only nine games, but in those nine games (11 innings) he struck out 11 while walking just one and giving up just two runs.  Upon returning, Kelley was still good but not nearly as sharp.  He wasn’t able to spot his fastball as well as he had in the first few games and his slider didn’t appear quite as sharp.  July was especially rough as he struck out 6, walked 4 and gave up 3 homers in 8 innings.  He settled back down from August on, and in he had himself a good-not-great Major League debut.  We saw the flashes of brilliance in the beginning, and now he has something to build on.

Kelley gets decent velocity on his fastball, sitting in the low 90s with the ability to dial it up to around 95 on occasion.  He relies on placement to make it a good pitch.  It’s not good enough (in terms of speed and movement) for him to make mistakes with it, and when he does you get guys like Nelson Cruz hitting awe inspiring shots to the bleachers well above the bullpen, as he did against Kelley for the longest home run against the Seattle Mariners in 2009.  But when Kelley is on, he is able to spot that fastball just about anywhere he wants.   The slider is a potential swing and miss pitch and at times looked unhittable.  He also has a throwaway changeup he’ll use to mix things up.

Before we got a glimpse of Kelley I thought that he had closer upside based on some of the scouting reports and his minor league numbers.  Now that I have a better idea of what he’s working with, I’m not sure that’s a realistic outlook for him.  It’s not out of the question, but if he ever finds himself in that role he won’t get it done in the typical blow ‘em away fashion.  He can do it if his fastball command improves in consistency and his slider becomes a legitimate out pitch, though chances are he maxes out as a 7th or 8th inning arm.  We’ll take it, of course.

Kelley was probably my favorite Mariner reliever last year.  I loved his quick ascent, his slider, and the way he pounded the strikezone while the rest of the ‘pen had trouble finding it.  I doubt that he’ll hold that position with me in 2010 given that Brandon League seems like he’s going to be pretty damn fun to watch, but I’m certainly looking forward to Kelley’s sophomore season and hope he can be a stabilizing force as one of the first relievers in the game for the Mariners.