Prior to Friday night’s exciting 3-2 Dodgers win over the New York Mets at Dodger Stadium to move to 1.5 games behind the NL West-leading San Francisco Giants (who lost), it was being reported on social media that 33-year-old Dodgers right-hander Joe Kelly was going to make his first rehab appearance since being placed on the 10-day Injured List on August 10 for an undisclosed reason as was 29-year-old fellow right-hander Corey Knebel.

“Unfortunately, I can’t (comment on the reason). So I appreciate the question but I can’t really comment on it,” Roberts said at the time, immediately leading to rumors and speculation that it was COVID-19-related. “I don’t think it’s something that’s going to be long-term for either guy. That’s about as much as I can say for either guy.”

Knebel, of course, was activated from the IL this past Tuesday after missing 92 games for a right lat strain (and perhaps that other reason). When asked if the reports on Twitter were accurate about Kelly making his first rehab appearance with the Dodgers Low Single-A Rancho Cucamonga Quakes, Roberts confirmed the reports.

“Joe’s in Rancho tonight and we’ll see how that goes,” he answered. “If it goes well and he feels good, there’s a potential for Sunday activation.”

It sort of went well.

The Anaheim, CA native and third-round draft pick in 2009 by the St. Louis Cardinals out of UC Riverside was on a very strict pitch count but required to face at least three batters under MLB and MiLB’s Three-Batter Minimum rule. After striking out the first San Jose Giants batter he faced (swinging) on four pitches, Kelly walked the next two and was removed from the game after making 16 total pitches, of which seven were strikes.

Whether or not Kelly’s abbreviated 16-pitch outing on Friday met Roberts’ “…we’ll see how that goes” criterion or not remains to be seen. But keep in mind that the Dodgers current 10-man bullpen has been very effective of late during the Dodgers current eight-game winning streak, so there’s that.

Stay tuned…

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