Joe Kelly walked a batter last night, a cheeky move primarily intended to keep us all on our toes. He then got Starlin Castro to chase a knuckle curve in the dirt, stranding both the guy he walked (Garrett Cooper) and the guy who’d been on third when he entered with two outs (Jon Berti).
It wasn’t an entirely crucial point in the game, but it was a big one, as it kept the lead at five, enabling the Dodgers to romp to a 14-run triumph in Miami.
But let’s talk about that walk.
It was our hero’s 17th walk of the year, which doesn’t really mean anything without context. So let’s give it context.
Joe Kelly’s walk rate is 9.4%. Last year, it was 11.2%. The year before that, it was 11.3%, and back in 2016, a year in which he still started a few games, it was 12.8%. The 9.4% he’s managing in 2019 is the 89th-highest walk rate out of all 328 pitchers with 40 or more major league innings on the season, putting our hero in the 27th percentile for walks, which means he’s not in the wildest quartile.
Not bad for a guy who has, at points, been very open about not having “Greg Maddux command.”
