Ok, so last night wasn’t the best for Joe Kelly.
He entered a tie game in the 8th inning, and left trailing by two.
He walked three batters.
He made an errant pickoff throw to first base.
He made two wild pitches, including one that allowed a runner to score.
But he did strike out three batters, and one of the runs was unearned (thanks to Max Muncy’s error—not Joe Kelly’s this time), and he hit 99 mph on the gun.
Are things going well right now? No, of course not. It’s been a tough start to the year for our hero, and him walking fewer batters would be preferable. But his struggles over the last four months of the 2018 regular season were comparable to this start to 2019 (he was actually walking more guys and striking out fewer over that stretch), and the man figured it out, turning in one of the most dominant postseasons ever, as Dodgers fans know as well as anybody.
Joe Kelly will be fine. He throws too hard, has too good of stuff, and comes with too good of a track record to keep allowing this many runs. Soon, that ERA will dip under 7.00. Then, he’ll start getting out of jams in high-leverage situations. The vibe will get stronger. The penchant for dominance will increase. And the crowd will, once again, roar its approval.
So if you want to get off the Joe Kelly Train now, go ahead. No one’s keeping you here.
But know this:
This party doesn’t allow re-entry. And when Joe Kelly freezes Christian Yelich with runners on and two outs in the 7th inning of the third game of the Division Series, you’re going to want to be here.
