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I think I was one of the first to showcase what Kelley was doing at AA in 08, and then replicating in winter ball, which was striking out everybody in sight. So he wasn't a dark horse to me when he made the MLB roster.
Tempering the enthusiasm for plugging Kelley right into the rotation is not about not liking Kelley, or thinking he has to "adjust" to being a starter.
It's about innings, and the "leap ahead" from a reliever's number of innings to a starter's number of innings. Both the Ms with Morrow and the Yankees with Chamberlain said they would not boost the number by more than 30 in one year.
Kelley's max so far is 76 in 08 (including 14 in the VWL). He had only 46 last year. The point Sandy and I were making is that you can't just plug him in for 20 starts and 120 IP. I mean, you CAN, but there's a body of wisdom that says you SHOULDN'T.
And that's not saying ANYTHING bad about Kelley, or saying that he needs "time in the minors to adjust" or anything else.
Just saying that it might not be prudent to expect more than 80 IP from Kelley in '10, and if that's your mindset, then you can't plug him into the rotation now (though maybe you can in August). Either way, he's not a solution to the current (2-)3-4-5 issues.
Not saying others aren't free to dismiss the "rule" -- I actually don't know how "validated" it is -- only that that's the reason for caution.