Ty Kelly

Tyler Patrick Kelly

• Bats Both, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 185 lb.
• School Loyola Marymount University, University of California-Davis
• High School St. Mary's High School
• Debut May 24, 2016
• Final Game July 23, 2018
• Born July 20, 1988 in Dallas, TX USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Infielder Ty Kelly began playing in the minor leagues in 2009. He reached Triple-A for the first time in 2012 and made his major league debut in 2016.

Kelly hit .400 as a high school senior. He was 1 for 7 with two walks as a freshman at Loyola Marymount University while battling injury then transferred to UC Davis. He hit .397/.448/.527 as a sophomore in 2008. He led the Big West Conference in average by 7 points over Shane Peterson and his 94 hits were second, two behind Jake Jefferies. He was 5th in OBP and did not make the top 10 in slugging. He was second-team All-Conference. He slumped a bit (.307/.382/.465) as a junior. He did tie for third in the Big West with 20 doubles.

He was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in the 13th round of the 2009 amateur draft (the scout was James Keller), one round after Steven Bumbry, and began his professional career that year. He hit .265/.357/.310 with 33 walks in 61 games for the Aberdeen Ironbirds, fielding .910 at 3B (his main position). As a 3B-2B for the 2010 Delmarva Shorebirds, he batted .259/.352/.370 with 68 walks and 30 doubles. He was 5th in the South Atlantic League in walks (between Kody Hinze and Jiovanni Mier) and was 6th with 11 sacrifice hits. Among O's farmhands, he was second to Brian Conley's 74 in walks, was 10th in runs and tied Robert Andino, Justin Turner and Joe Mahoney for 7th in doubles. He repeated with Delmarva in 2011, now as a 3B-LF; he improved in average (.274) and OBP (.369) but slugged only .328 as he went from 40 extra-base hits to 17. He was third in the O's chain in walks behind Brenden Webb and Bumbry and was 5th in the SAL in that department again (between Brett Tanos and Jason Martinson this time).

In 2012, he hit .327/.425/.467 with 29 doubles, 79 walks, 11 home runs and 70 RBI in 133 games split between the Frederick Keys (.346/.460/.513 in 76 G), Bowie Baysox (.308/.384/.413 in 46 G) and Triple-A Norfolk Tides (.278/.350/.389 in 11 G). He played mostly 2B and 3B that year. He led Baltimore minor leaguers in average (.011 ahead of Robbie Widlansky), hits (154, 6 ahead of Widlansky), OBP and OPS (.013 ahead of Webb), was second in walks (13 behind Webb), was third in runs (74, after Webb and L.J. Hoes) and tied Joe Mahoney and Webb for second in doubles (6 shy of Widlansky).

The next year, he hit .283/.389/.382 in 72 games for Bowie (mostly manning 3B) before a trade to the Seattle Mariners for OF Eric Thames, after which he batted .320/.456/.406 with 51 walks in 54 games for the Tacoma Rainiers (mostly playing 2B). On the season, he had 85 runs, 27 doubles and 102 walks in 126 games, hitting .298/.417/.392. He tied Nolan Fontana and Allan Dykstra for 3rd in minor league baseball in walks, behind Val Pascucci and Gregory Bird. Pascucci had a chance for more games as he played in the Mexican League and independent leagues, putting Kelly tied for second in the US-based affiliated minors, behind Bird.

As a 2B-3B for Tacoma in 2014, he hit .263/.381/.412 with 15 homers, 85 walks, 81 runs and 80 RBI. He tied Andy Marte for 7th in the 2014 PCL in runs, missed the top 10 in RBI by one and was second in walks (15 behind Joc Pederson). He was 6th in the M's chain in RBI (between Jabari Henry and Dario Pizzano) and led in walks.

Kelly was traded again on November 20, 2014, this time to the St. Louis Cardinals in return for P Sam Gaviglio. He hit .203/.317/.286 with two home runs and 21 RBI for the Memphis Redbirds to begin the season. On July 21st, the Cardinals designated him for assignment; on July 22nd, the Toronto Blue Jays acquired him and assigned him to Triple A. In 38 games for the Buffalo Bisons, he hit .264/.331/.313 with a home run and 12 RBI. Overall, he hit .226/.322/.296 with three home runs and 33 RBI on the year, a far cry from his prior level of performance.

For 2016, the New York Mets signed him and he rebounded, batting .413/.492/.548 with 16 walks in his first 32 games with the Triple A Las Vegas 51s. He was called up to New York on May 23rd when 1B Lucas Duda was placed on the disabled list and made his debut the following day when he went 0 for 4 with 3 strikeouts starting at third base against the Washington Nationals. Coincidentally, the pitcher for the Nats that day was Stephen Strasburg, who was born on the same day as Ty - July 20, 1988. He started his MLB career 0 for 9 before geting a hit off Jose Quintana. On June 8th, he hit his first major league home run off Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Jameson Taillon. He last played in the majors in 2018, but played professionally until 2022.

He was a coach for the Tacoma Rainiers in 2023.

Sources

• 2013 Orioles Media Guide
• UC Davis Bio
• The Baseball Cube

Related Sites

• Ty Kelly on mlb.com
• BR Minors page