It’s probably safe to say that when the Dodgers signed right-hander Joe Kelly – the same Joe Kelly who kicked their collective butts in the 2018 World Series – to be their set-up man for Dodgers All-Star closer Kenley Jansen, Dodger fans around the globe were ecstatic. I mean, it was the failure of the Dodgers bullpen that helped the 31-year-old Anaheim, CA native and 2009 third-round draft pick (by the St. Louis Cardinals out of the University of California, Riverside) and his Red Sox teammates defeat the Dodgers in five games.

Considering the extremely thin top-tier reliever market at the time (which has since become even thinner), the three-year / $25 million contract (with a club option for a fourth year) that the Dodgers gave to Kelly on December 21, 2018, seemed like the deal – and steal – of the century.

And then the bottom fell out.

There is no kind or gentle way to put it, during Kelly’s first two months with his new team, he was… well… awful, with a team-worst 10.12 ERA on May 4. It was not uncommon for Kelly to exit the bullpen at Dodger Stadium to a chorus of loud boos, or for him to be roasted on social media with each successive failure.

But right around June 1, something happened; the Joe Kelly that the Dodgers paid a great deal of money for finally showed up.

“He was putting the baseball where he wanted to,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of Kelly’s very noticeable improvement. “If you’re looking at the big picture, very encouraged.”

Dodgers bullpen coach Mark Prior had an even more detailed assessment of the 6′-1″ / 174-pound Southern California native.

“For us to be who I think we all want to be at the end of this year, we need Joe to be a big piece of that, and he’s fully aware of that,” Prior told LA Times Dodgers beat writer Jorge Castillo on July 1. “He puts a lot of expectations on himself. He understands what his role should be on this team and what it needs to be for us to be a championship ballclub.”

And then something remarkable – and unexpected – happened. Kelly picked up three wins and one save (with one blown save) in his combined 11.2 innings pitched since July 2, and by all appearances, has turned the proverbial corner.

“I just switched on my own just to go to the two-seamer because it felt more comfortable,” Kelly told Castillo. “That’s what I could command, I guess, so I just went out there and did it on my own.”

On Wednesday afternoon, Kelly entered the game against the St. Louis Cardinals at Dodger Stadium in the top of the eighth inning with his team trailing 1-0. He promptly struck out Cardinals first baseman Paul Goldschmidt, left fielder Marcell Ozuna and shortstop Paul DeJong … on 12 pitches. The Dodgers would go on to win the game 2-1 on yet another walk-off hit – their 10th walk-off win of the season – on a two-run single up the middle by 36-year-old / 14-year MLB veteran catcher Russell Martin.

“He’s been great and this is where he needed to get right – feel the baseball, and he’s worked through some things, the baseball, the mechanics – and he’s in a nice place right now,” Roberts said of Kelly after the game. “But this is what we expected, what we knew he could do. We’ve seen it.

“It’s good to see him really having the success that he’s had for quite some time now,” added Roberts.

Success indeed.

Kelly is now 5-3 on the season with a 4.85 ERA and one save. He has walked 16 and struck out 50 of the combined 175 batters he has faced thus far this season.

Has Joe Kelly finally turned the corner?

Although that jury is still out on that with 45 games remaining in the regular season, it is impossible not to be impressed with what Kelly has done over the last six weeks.

Play Ball!

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