Last night, as much of the country lay in bed, Joe Kelly took the mound as a Dodger for the second time.
Now, if you’ll recall, the last time Joe Kelly took the mound wasn’t great, but it was eight times better than his start to 2018. So, to Dodgers fans, last night felt important. Joe Kelly needed to show them he was worth all those dollars Andrew Friedman decided to pay him.
And what did Joe Kelly do?
He gave up a home run on the first pitch, that’s what he did.
And that wasn’t all he did—after inducing a groundout and striking out two, he went back out there the next inning, made it look like everything was fine (infield single, groundout, groundout), then let Pablo Sandoval single in a run, and let Steven Duggar double, and let Brandon Belt double in two runs before Dave Roberts emerged to pull the plug.
Concerning? Maybe. Until you remember it was April Fools’ Day yesterday.
That’s right: Dodgers fans got got. Notorious prankster Joe Kelly broke in his new people, and he even went to the trouble of taking the loss himself, which was rather considerate of him.
But it turns out Dodgers fans can’t take a joke. They booed the guy! Two separate people named Andrew texted me “Joe Kelly is terrible” and “Joe Kelly stinks.”
I mean, come on, guys. I know you don’t like losing to the Giants, but you have to admit: Joe Kelly got you good with that one. Now stop taking yourself so seriously and appreciate the work of one of the best practical jokers in the game.
As for Joe Kelly’s ERA and all that jazz? It’ll be fine. And if it isn’t, well, he still throws really hard.
