The haters said he shouldn’t be out there.
The haters said he gives up too many runs, and that he hasn’t been worth the money the Dodgers invested in him.
Some of the less extreme haters even said he should be pitching low-leverage innings until he gets back into a groove.
But Dave Roberts didn’t listen to the haters.
With a 2-0 lead, in the 8th inning of a potential sweep-avoiding victory for the Dodgers, with the heart of the order coming up for one of the best offensive teams in baseball, Dave Roberts brought in Joe Kelly.
And Joe Kelly delivered.
Of course, Javy Baez singled off the wall. But I’m pretty sure that’s actually better for the pitcher than an average Javy Baez plate appearance. Keep the ball in the park and don’t allow Javy to do something so scintillating that men and women across the nation fan themselves with conveniently available programs, and you’ve done a good job.
A good job, Joe Kelly did.
No one can say for sure when Kelly’s next outing will be. He only threw 32 pitches combined over the last two days, and while he has yet to pitch three days in a row this season, Roberts did put him out there the day after he threw 27 pitches a few weeks ago.
Regardless, we’ll probably see him out there sometime this weekend back in Chavez Ravine, with the Pirates visiting. The storyline, as it so often does, writes itself.
(The storyline is that Joe Kelly throws hard and is really cool)
