Dodgers

Dodgers Playoff Media Day: Big Joe Kelly Update From Dave Roberts

On Tuesday, Dodgers Nation is at Chavez Ravine talking Dodger baseball with Thursday’s NLDS showdown awaiting us all. Moreover, one of the most important issues for the Dodgers whomever they face between the Milwaukee Brewers and Washington Nationals is the status of reliever Joe Kelly.

Remember, the last we heard on Kelly was not much at all. Furthermore, it sounded at that time like Kelly was just going to kind of grind through whatever was ailing him.

However, there is a positive update from Dodger Stadium straight from Dodgers’ manager Dave Roberts.

Here’s what the Dodgers’ skipper had to say at the media session:

“Joe Kelly had a 20-pitch bullpen today [Tuesday]. I got the thumbs up from him.”

Indeed, this is big news for the Dodgers moving forward. While we all know about Kelly’s struggles to begin the 2019 season, he came on strong with a 2.81 ERA in 19 appearances since July 31st. Equally important, Kelly tallied 18 strikeouts in 16 innings pitched during that span.

With that being said, the right-handed reliever threw just 2/3 of an inning since September 18; with that outing coming on September 29 in a 9-0 win against the Giants.

In case you forgot, this is what Kelly said about his issue just several days ago:

“[It’s] one of those things I’ll just have to stay on top of every single day because I know [that although the playoffs are close], it’s not going to be like magically cured,” Kelly said. “It’s just one of those things that I kind of just have to battle through.”

Now, it sounds like Kelly is going to be a full-go; especially witha  few more days of rest on-tap before the Dodgers’ postseason begins.

Finally, it’s going to be exciting to see what Joe Kelly does in a Dodgers’ uniform in October. How can anyone forget the dominating performance he had against Los Angeles in the 2018 World Series for Boston? One can only hope a pitcher close to that form comes running out of the Los Angeles pen in a few days.

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