Casey Kelly, the high school shortstop/pitcher drafted in the first round by Boston in June, has signed and will report to the rookie squad in the Gulf Coast League.  The interesting portion of this story, and something that I don’t think I’ve ever witnessed before with a draft pick of this stature, is that the team still isn’t sure if he will ultimately become a pitcher or hitter.

The situation is this: Kelly wants to be a shortstop. The Red Sox think he should become a pitcher. Apparently, some sort of compromise has been reached, and Kelly will head to Florida as a shortstop for the GCL team, and will also play SS in the fall instructional league. However, the team still plans on having Kelly toe the rubber at some point in the future:

“Pitching we will expose Casey to at the right time, in the right place, and in the right environment,” said Epstein, adding that Kelly’s pitching would not necessarily interrupt his development at shortstop.

When it comes to player development, Theo’s minor league instructional staff have earned our trust with some impressive results over the past few years. However, this arrangement still makes me a tad uneasy. Frankly, I don’t understand how playing full time SS will not delay this kid’s development as a pitcher.

Perhaps this compromise was needed to sign him, in which case, you gotta do what you gotta do.

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That thud you heard last night was David Ortiz hitting a line drive HR in a sold-out McCoy Stadium.

Amazingly, the Red Sox offense stepped up in his absence and increased production (.280/.353./.411 with Ortiz, .285/.361/.466 without), mostly thanks to guys named Drew and Pedroia, but it will still be nice to see him in the batters box in a week or two.