Last night, many Dodgers fans thought the team was going home from the winter meetings empty handed. This morning they woke up with the news that World Series hero Joe Kelly has signed a 3 year $25 million deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Kelly is fresh in the minds of many Dodgers fans, not even 2 months removed from the World Series in which he carved up their entire lineup, striking out 10 and walking none. Dodgers fans may also remember Kelly as the man on the mound in game 1 of the 2013 NLCS, when then shortstop Hanley Ramirez got a fastball to the ribs, causing him to sit out for the majority of the series.
Joe Kelly, 30, came into the league in 2012 as a starter with the St. Louis Cardinals. After a 2014 trade that sent him to the Boston Red Sox, Kelly began to see more time out of the bullpen. By 2016, he became a full time relief pitcher. An effective 2017, in which Kelly posted a 2.79 ERA in 58 innings, was followed by a less than stellar 2018 where he posted 4.39 ERA in 65.2 innings of work but his 3.57 FIP indicates that he actually pitched better than his ERA indicated. His career groundball rate of about 50 percent is a positive sign for one of the best defensive teams.
The most impressive component of Joe Kelly is his lethal fastball / curve combo. As we all saw during the 2018 World Series, Joe Kelly can bring it, with a blazing fastball over 100 MPH often. His go to pitch is a wipeout curve that makes it unfair for hitters, because they always have to sit fastball. He has also mixed in a change and slider but his repertoire shrunk due to the fact he is only pitching an inning or two in relief per appearance.
The Dodgers have had a lot of success with converted starters in recent years and all signs point to Joe Kelly playing a major role out of the Dodgers bullpen. By giving them something they lacked for most of 2018, a legitimate bridge to Kenley Jansen, their bullpen should return to one of MLB’s best again in 2019.
Ian Nielson has served as a writer and contributor for @DodgersLowDown since 2018. Follow him on twitter @inielson23