The second half of the Major League Baseball season begins tonight in New York (update: was going to begin tonight in New York but the Yankees have Covid), and the second half of the Joe Kelly season begins tomorrow night in Denver (wow, wouldn’t have even had to travel if they’d just named him the All-Star that he is). Here’s what to expect:
Joe Kelly is on pace for his best season in Los Angeles.
Our guy has a 3.68 ERA and a 3.21 FIP, the former of which would be the best he’s posted in a non-pandemic season since 2017, the latter of which would be the best he’s ever posted. If he keeps averaging an inning every three days or so, as he has since being activated after recovering from the gruesome nerve injury that kept him out for the beginning of this year and hampered him even in his 1.80-ERA season last summer (both those things—the 1.80 ERA and the gruesome nerve injury—are not discussed with adequate frequency), he’ll end up with something like half an fWAR, and while that certainly understates his value to the Dodgers (and to humanity), it would also be the best mark he’s posted for his home-state team.
Joe Kelly is on pace for the best season ever.
Another way to look at it? Joe Kelly probably won’t allow a run the rest of the season, will probably strike out every batter he faces, and if you extrapolate that over the rest of the year I believe you get something like an infinite fWAR once Dave Roberts starts having him throw every pitch of every game, which Joe Kelly will be capable of doing because of the supernatural nature of the aforementioned shoulder issue.
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I, for one, am looking forward to this.
