BOSTON -- In a span of about 90 minutes Saturday, Joe Kelly went from being anointed the Boston Red Sox's setup man to landing on the disabled list.
Kelly will miss at least seven games with a strained left hamstring, the Red Sox announced at Fenway Park before continuing their four-game series against the New York Yankees. Kelly felt tightness in his hamstring during the All-Star break and while trying to get loose Friday night, and it flared up again while he was throwing off flat ground Saturday.
"It grabbed him pretty good," Farrell said. "He was checked in the training room, was able to reproduce the symptoms just by going through his delivery at a very controlled effort, so we didn't want to take any chances and we made the move."
Right-hander Brandon Workman was recalled from Triple-A Pawtucket to take Kelly's spot in the bullpen.
Kelly has dealt with hamstring issues in the past, including a three-month DL stint in 2014 with the St. Louis Cardinals.
Through 34 appearances this season, Kelly has a 1.49 ERA with 26 strikeouts in 36⅓ innings over 34 appearances. He had a 21⅓-inning scoreless streak snapped Sunday when he allowed a go-ahead two-run homer to Brad Miller in a 5-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays.
In Kelly's first full season as a reliever after years as a starter, the Red Sox have been conservative with their usage of the right-hander, pitching him on back-to-back days only three times, and not since June 2-3 at Baltimore. But in declaring Saturday that Kelly has emerged as the primary choice to pitch the eighth inning, manager John Farrell said the team would be more aggressive about using him in the second half.
"I think it will be dependent upon the number of pitches thrown in a given night," Farrell said. "If it's low teens, yeah, I think he's getting to the point where, physically, 'Hey, I'm good to go the next day.' We've kept him out of days when he's felt fine just to make sure that he's stayed strong throughout, which he has. But we'll see back-to-back start to emerge here."
Farrell said the Red Sox planned to add Workman to the roster as a 26th player for Sunday's doubleheader against the Yankees.
Utility infielder Brock Holt is nearing a return from the disabled list after being sidelined since April 21 with vertigo and concussion symptoms.
The Red Sox also were in the process of evaluating reliever Blaine Boyer, who pitched a scoreless 12th inning Saturday night but left before the 13th with tightness in his forearm.