Keone Kela Fantasy News & Stats

Keone Kela

26-Year-Old PitcherRP

Pittsburgh Pirates

2019 Stats

W-L

1-0

ERA

7.04

WHIP

1.43

Rest-of-Season Projections

W-L

ERA

WHIP

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2019 Fantasy Outlook

Kela began the season as the Rangers' closer, recording 24 saves before being shipped to the Pirates on July 30. With the Bucs, Kela transitioned to a setup role where he'll likely stay so long as Felipe Vazquez remains in Pittsburgh. Coming off a couple of injury-riddled seasons where he averaged just 36.1 innings a year, Kela was shut down in early September, with 51 solid frames under his belt. For the season, he shaved a couple percentage points of his walk rate without sacrificing much dominance. Kela relies primarily on a four-seamer he rushes to the plate at 97 mph along with a curve as his secondary offering. Lefties had better numbers than usual against Kela, but most of that was a result of a small-sample .377 BABIP. With a strikeout rate north of 30%, Kela is in play in all formats and is especially appealing in leagues scoring holds, as he should be among the league leaders. Read Past Outlooks

RANKSFrom Preseason

#587

ADP

Overall

Reliever

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League Majors

Bats R

Throws R

40 Man Yes

Height 6'1"

Weight 210

DOB 4/16/1993

Born Los Angeles, CA

College Everett (WA) CC

Drafted 12th Rd 2012 TEX

Sees improved results Sunday

PPittsburgh Pirates

April 21, 2019

Kela struck out one in a perfect seventh inning against San Francisco on Sunday.

ANALYSIS
After struggling as Felipe Vazquez's primary setup man for the first three weeks, the right-hander pitched with his team trailing Sunday. Kyle Crick and Nick Burdi will likely cover for Kela in high-leverage situations while the hard-throwing righty works out of his early-season funk. Kela's scoreless inning lowered his ERA to 7.04 and his WHIP to 1.43.

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Pitching Stats

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Minor League Game Log

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Left/Right Pitching Splits

Since 2017

-42%

BAA vs RHP

2019

-45%

BAA vs RHP

2018

-45%

BAA vs RHP

2017

-34%

BAA vs RHP

	BAA	Batters	K	BB	H	2B	3B	HR
Since 2017vs Left	.240	164	47	18	35	10	1	6
Since 2017vs Right	.139	233	79	21	29	4	0	6
2019vs Left	.364	13	1	2	4	2	0	1
2019vs Right	.200	21	8	1	4	1	0	2
2018vs Left	.268	91	27	9	22	6	1	2
2018vs Right	.147	121	39	10	16	3	0	3
2017vs Left	.170	60	19	7	9	2	0	3
2017vs Right	.113	91	32	10	9	0	0	1
More Splits→	View More Split Stats

Home/Away Pitching Splits

Since 2017

-46%

ERA at Home

2019

-47%

ERA at Home

2018

-53%

ERA at Home

2017

-46%

ERA at Home

	ERA	WHIP	IP	W	L	SV	K/9	BB/9	HR/9
Since 2017Home	2.37	0.89	49.1	3	3	10	11.1	3.1	0.9
Since 2017Away	4.41	1.20	49.0	5	2	16	11.9	4.0	1.3
2019Home	5.40	1.00	5.0	0	0	0	10.8	3.6	3.6
2019Away	10.13	2.25	2.2	1	0	0	10.1	3.4	3.4
2018Home	2.10	0.97	25.2	1	3	10	12.3	3.2	0.4
2018Away	4.44	1.22	26.1	2	1	14	10.6	3.4	1.4
2017Home	1.93	0.75	18.2	2	0	0	9.6	2.9	1.0
2017Away	3.60	1.05	20.0	2	1	2	14.0	5.0	0.9
More Splits→	View More Split Stats

Stat Review

How does Keone Kela compare to other relievers?

This section compares his stats with all relief pitcher seasons from the previous three seasons (minimum 30 innings). The bar represents the player's percentile rank. For example, if the bar is halfway across, then the player falls into the 50th percentile for that stat and it would be considered average.

K/BB

3.00

K/9

10.6

BB/9

3.5

HR/9

3.5

Fastball

95.8 mph

ERA

7.04

WHIP

1.43

BABIP

.284

GB/FB

1.11

Strand %

62.5%

Advanced Pitching Stats

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Defensive Stats

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Stats Vs Today's Lineup

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Past Fantasy Outlooks

2018

2017

2016

Kela was admonished to the minor leagues to begin the year in what was said to be a move to preserve team chemistry, but he was called up a couple weeks into the season and outperformed everyone not named Alex Claudio in the Rangers' bullpen the rest of the way. Using a fastball that averaged over 96 mph and a wipeout, 12-6 curveball, Kela struck batters out at a 33.8 percent clip, and he was able to limit the free passes better than he did in 2016 (4.0 BB/9). The right-hander was dominant against same-handed hitters, holding opposing righty batters to .113/.220/.150 line, and he was no slouch against lefties (.170/.267/.377). His overpowering stuff would seem to make Kela a favorite for the closer role, as has long been speculated, although his flyball tendencies ding him a bit in that regard. If he doesn't get the job out of camp, Kela should be the next man up.

Kela missed about three months of action after he underwent surgery to remove a bone spur from his elbow in April. He struggled to regain his 2015 form, during which he flashed closer abilities. If he can split the difference in his walk rate over the last two years, it'll work well with his already excellent strikeout ability (10.8 career K/9). Texas is loaded with closer candidates, though Sam Dyson and Jeremy Jeffress, the top two on the totem pole, have sizeable holes in their game. Kela, who turns 24 in April, deserves to be among the first names fantasy owners in deep leagues consider when they're looking for a reliever who can help in the strikeout column. He could wind up as one of the better reliever end-game investments in AL-only leagues, as many may forget about his lethal arm and skills. An eye-opening spring training performance could restart the hype train.

Kela made the jump from Double-A Frisco directly to the majors on the strength of a strong spring training and promptly rewarded the organization's faith in him with a solid rookie season that included seven wins, 22 holds and 68 strikeouts in 60.1 innings. He battled arm fatigue at times, and was briefly sent to the minors to get additional rest, in addition to complaining of elbow soreness toward the end of the season. During the offseason, there was no indication that Kela was going to face any restrictions. He's had control issues throughout his minor-league career, but Kela walked just 18 batters in 60.1 innings with Texas. He projects as an effective late-inning arm for 2016, and Kela is on the short list to ascend to the closer's role if injuries befall Rangers closer Shawn Tolleson.

More Fantasy News

Grabs win despite blown save

PPittsburgh Pirates

April 16, 2019

Kela (1-0) was charged with the blown save Tuesday against the Tigers, allowing one run on two hits during the ninth inning. He ended up earning the win as the Pirates won in extra innings.

ANALYSIS
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