Yes, I know, Joe Kelly allowed a home run to Evan Longoria immediately upon entry. But Evan Longoria, if you’ll recall, was one of the best players in baseball as recently as 2013, and after that—boom. Lights out.
So with that aside, a list of the fun things Joe Kelly did last night:
- Batted! Looked confident up there. But not too confident. Looked unusual enough to not look like he was just going to try to be a vanilla hitter. Open stance…some lively rhythm…up there with a plan…great batter.
- Showed off the wheels! Forced Brandon Crawford to make a play, and made it evident that Crawford knew he had to make a play. The Giants knew Joe Kelly was fast. That was in the scouting report. Think on that for a second.
- Showed off the glove! Big night for demonstrating his athleticism.
- Pitched across three innings! Only threw one and two-thirds, but helped eat outs and save his teammates.
- Threw gas. Was out there touching 99 a couple times. Across three innings! Great night. Looking so good. And we didn’t even talk about his hair.
I’d call it a success. In the ultimate test, I saved this file as Joe Kelly Hype Zone 5.27.21.docx, not Joe Kelly Spin Zone 5.27.21.docx. Good night for our guy.
