Pittsburgh Pirates News: Keone Kela Suspended

The Pittsburgh Pirates will have two wait two additional games to get one of their best relief pitchers back from the injured

A major reason why the Pittsburgh Pirates bullpen has struggled to find consistency this season is the injury to Keone Kela. The team’s main setup man, and second best reliever behind Felipe Vazquez, has been on the injured list since May 5th.

Originally, Kela was set to return from the IL on Monday. This, however, did not happen. The reason it has not happened is due Kela receiving a two game suspension from the team.

Kela has been activated off the IL, but he has also been placed on the suspended list. His two game suspension will begin tonight. So, it appears Kela will return to the team on Wednesday.

Prior to going on the IL with a shoulder injury Kela owned a 4.63 ERA and a 5.71 FIP in 11 2/3 innings pitched. Kela, however, has been a slow starter throughout his MLB career. He went unscored upon in his final six outings before being placed on the IL. In these six outings he struck out three and walked just one in 5 innings of work.

Kela made a rehab outing with Triple-A Indianapolis in May before being shut down again. In his latest rehab stint, he struck out six batters and walked one in 2 1/3 innings of work. He also threw a bullpen session after his last outing with Indy on July 18th to ready himself for pitching in back-to-back games.

Hopefully, getting Kela back from the IL will provide a much needed boost to the Pirate bullpen. If the Pirates get a healthy, effective Kela back in the fold the bullpen will improve immensely.