We’ve waited long enough. It’s time for our first Joe Kelly Spin Zone of the season.
If you missed it, Joe Kelly was the victim of a cruel turn of fate Thursday night, entering with the game tied in the eighth, retiring the first two batters he faced, then allowing five earned runs on four walks and an infield single.
To which we say…
He still hasn’t allowed a hit on a ball out of the infield yet this year.
It may seem like a selective factoid, but what do you want most out of your relief pitchers, aside from them being extraordinarily cool? You want them to be unhittable. Joe Kelly is arguably having the most unhittable season of his career. Both of Monday’s hits stayed in the infield too.
There are other things we could point out here, like how if Joe Kelly hadn’t allowed five runs there someone else in the White Sox bullpen would have done it, and how if Joe Kelly hadn’t allowed five runs there, that game still might be going on and people would be getting hurt, but instead we’d like to call attention to one more thing. It’s not an excuse—no excuses, Joe Kelly wouldn’t want us to make excuses on his behalf, I don’t imagine—but it does shed light on something you might not have thought of that does paint the appearance in a different light.
Joe Kelly was only on his fourth or fifth day in the city of Chicago. He’s still getting used to it. Still getting used to not having his kids around, not having his wife around, having Northwestern University kind of vaguely around…
That’s a lot.
So, just think about all of that.
Will Burnley Clinch?
In the world’s other biggest news this morning, Burnley could clinch survival tomorrow morning, by winning and seeing Leeds lose later tomorrow morning. Here’s what every scenario means.
Now, not that likely Burnley wins. They’re playing Tottenham on the road, Tottenham’s a lot better than Burnley, Tottenham has something to play for. But it’s not impossible! And as King Henry VIII said, while playing real tennis, which is evidently a thing he played, “If I don’t win this game, I’m going to tear apart the church.” Strong words from the now-dead king.
NASCAR, IndyCar, Dogs in Cars
NASCAR’s at Kansas tomorrow afternoon, so that’s too bad, although now that I say that I remember that the 1.5-milers so far this year have been better than expected. Color me cautiously optimistic.
IndyCar’s at Indy today, but it’s the road course. Not the Indy 500 yet, folks. That’s still a couple weeks away.
Finally, dogs in cars are such a good bit. Just having a great time in there. Or a terrible time. Sometimes when they’re panting it looks like they’re smiling and I can’t tell if they’re having a blast or if they’re fearing for their life.
