During Sunday’s third annual Daniel Robertson Family Foundation FanFest event at Performance Fitness-Athletes in Upland, California, I had an opportunity to speak one-on-one with new Dodgers right-hander Joe Kelly … yeah that Joe Kelly – the guy who flat out kicked the Dodgers butt during the 2018 World Series, allowing no runs on four hits while striking out 10 of the 22 total batters he faced without allowing a walk in his 6.0 innings pitched. The same Joe Kelly who was later signed by the Dodgers on December 21, 2018 as a free agent to a three-year / $25 million contract with a club option for a fourth year or a $4 million buyout.

Undoubtedly there are still a lot of Dodger fans with a lot of hard feelings towards Kelly, but after speaking with the 30-year-old Anaheim, California native and third-round draft pick by the St. Louis Cardinals in 2009 out of the University of California – Riverside, I am thoroughly convinced that he is as fierce of a competitor as anyone who has ever worn a Dodger uniform … and then some.

“It is coming home for me, I’m going to be able to stay in my house that I live in in the off-season now, in the house all the time, so that’s going to be fun,” Kelly said. “I’m going to be able to hang around with my family, hang around with my friends.

“Playing baseball, you don’t really get to be a part of that too often, especially if you’re not playing in a city close to your home,” he added. “I’m kind of excited to be able to see my family, be able to hang out with them while I play baseball.”

But why the Dodgers? As a first-time free agent with a World Series ring that he played a huge role in winning, the 6′-1″ / 190-pound hard-throwing right-hander could have signed with any number of teams.

“Obviously, the biggest thing to me is that when I hit free agency, I wanted to go to a team that was dedicated to winning – with talent – and the Dodgers are the first-class organization who do that every year,” Kelly answered. “They put a product on the field that is top notch who has a chance to contend every year, and then it’s obviously up to the players.

“Knowing that I gotta go there, it’s not like next year they’re going to sell and become a non-contender,” he continued. “I like playing competitive baseball and I can’t say that for the rest of the teams that kind of are tanking. But I’m excited, it’s going to be fun; to be part of the family, to be part of a winning team. Third time’s a charm and hopefully we’ll win the World Series this year.”

Has Kelly had an opportunity to meet any of his new teammates yet?

“Only a couple. I went down there [to Dodger Stadium] last week,” he answered. “I saw [Corey] Seager and Kiké [Hernandez] and hung out with those guys and introduced myself. Just trying to go to the field, throw, run, do some workouts to try to get acclimated, especially with the training staff, medical staff. Other than that, I haven’t had a chance to reach out to everyone, but I’ll be doing that here shortly.”

Shortly indeed, as pitchers and catchers report for spring training in just six short weeks.

Play Ball!