Three batters.
Three outs.
A 99 MPH fastball.
A deceiving knuckle-curve.
A tantalizing changeup.
Joe Kelly tore through the Phillies yesterday, striking out Rhys Hoskins (ever heard of him?) and J.T. Realmuto before inducing a lazy fly ball from Scott Kingery to end the game.
The outing pulled his ERA back below 8.00 while lowering his xFIP (the one that accounts for luck on balls in play and assumes the home run/fly ball ratio averages out over time) to a downright good 3.76.
It may still be a while before we see our hero taking on the high-leverage opportunities the Dodgers signed him to seize, but if 2018 taught us anything about Joe Kelly, it taught us he can get unhittable out of nowhere.
Exciting times.
