Casey Kelly didn’t join the Cincinnati Reds organization until August of 2024, but it wasn’t long after that point that he joined the big league club. The right-handed pitcher and son of Triple-A manager Pat Kelly, spent less than three weeks with Louisville before being called up to join the Reds on August 24th. He made two appearances with the Reds – throwing three perfect innings in his first outing against Pittsburgh and then giving up three runs in 2.1 innings against Oakland four days later.
After that game the club designated him for assignment and he cleared waivers a few days later and was outrighted to Triple-A. At that time he chose to accept the assignment and spent the next six weeks pitching out the remainder of the year with the Bats. With the season now complete he has elected to become a free agent.
Casey Kelly has not pitched in the big leagues prior to this season since 2018. Following that season he headed off to Korea to play professionally in the KBO. For the next six years he threw 165+ innings in five years and 113.2 innings this season before signing with the Reds in August.
While Kelly is the first minor leaguer to opt for free agency, he will hardly be the last. And there will be several big leaguers that head off to free agency, too. Buck Farmer, Justin Wilson, and Amed Rosario are all free agents when the season is complete (playoffs). Jakob Junis has a mutual option that could allow him to become a free agent. Brent Suter and Luke Maile both have team options for 2025 that could lead to their free agency if the team wants to go in a different direction.
