McAdam: Joe Kelly figures it all out in time to emerge as an improbable postseason bullpen weapon

Of all the story lines that have emerged in the Red Sox postseason journey to date, some seem more far-fetched than others.

All of a sudden, David Price has become a dominant October starter. The debate rages on -- are Rick Porcello and Nathan Eovaldi more valuable in the rotation or their cameo relief appearances?

And this: Joe Kelly is now money as a set-up option.

Much of it has to do with his changeup, which neatly off-sets his high-octane fastball.

"The changeup helps, definitely,'' said Kelly after the Red Sox' 4-2 Game 2 win over the Dodgers at Fenway, "because it slows guys' bats down. But the most effective thing is just throwing strikes, being able to be the aggressor and not nibble, I think, is probably the biggest key.''

That latter surely wasn't a common-held belief as recently as the end of September. In fact, for a time, Kelly seemed like a longshot to even make the playoff roster and when he did make it, it was assumed he might serve either as the team's mop-up man, or an occasional option against lefties.

Nowhere in the cards did it suggest that Kelly would pitch 7.1 innings and allow just one earned run on four hits with no walks and five strikeouts.

But that's what's happened. And if the first two games of the World Series are any indication, Kelly appears intent on saving his best for last. He's faced six batters in the first two games of the Series and retired them all.

Who could have seen that coming?

This was, after all, the same Joe Kelly who compiled an ERA of 8.00 in three different months during the season. The same Joe Kelly who went two entire months (April and May) in which he allowed exactly one run, while, at others, looked incapable of getting out major league hitters.

The Red Sox were as mystified as anyone else. Kelly has a fastball that regularly touches 100 mph, and a variety of secondary pitches that can be devastating when he uses them judiciously.

But too often, Kelly's pitch mix has been suspect. He falls in love with his fastball and forgets to mix in secondary offerings to keep hitters honest. And as impressive as a triple-digit fastball can be, if hitters see that as a steady diet, eventually, they're going to time it up and whack it around the ballpark.

Kelly's turnaround came in September, when he was summoned for a meeting with pitching coach Dana LeVangie. LeVangie was armed with data and video, but he wanted to hear from Kelly himself.

"I asked him, 'What's going on?' recalled LeVangie.

That was the question as posed, but it had an underlying subtext -- one part "What are you thinking out there?'' and one part "Why aren't you better than this?''

Certainly the stuff was there, and Kelly had had enough pockets of success in the big leagues to have already demonstrated that he was capable of more. So where was it? Why was this talented, healthy guy not performing better.

From there, the work began. It was discovered that, at varying points, Kelly was somehow managing to tip all of his pitches. There were some mechanical issues to correct. And finally, there was the matter of both narrowing his repertoire and making sure that he wasn't overly reliant on his fastball.

The overhaul took a while, but it's now paying huge dividends for the Sox.

"I'm happy for him,'' said Alex Cora. "He's been tested the whole season. At one point, he went from being the guy in the seventh or eighth inning to just a guy in the bullpen. And now he's back in the equation. When Joe is throwing strikes with all his pitches, he might be one of the toughest relievers in the big leagues because his stuff is that good.''

As the Yankees, Astros and now Dodgers can attest.

"We're finally seeing the real Joe Kelly,'' said LeVangie.