Joe Kelly’s tenure with the Los Angeles Dodgers has not gotten off to a good start as he got hit around a bit in each of his first two outings, leading to the team’s only two losses of the season.
Friday afternoon’s game against the Colorado Rockies presented Kelly a chance to get right on the mound. He entered in the bottom of the ninth inning with the Dodgers comfortably ahead, 10-4.
Kelly’s outing did not last long, unfortunately. The first hitter he faced, Charlie Blackmon, drilled a line drive right back at Kelly that he was able to make a play on.
It looked like the ball just got Kelly in the glove, but it appears it hit his wrist as well as the trainers came out and looked at him and he was forced to leave the game. Kelly does appear to have avoided injury, as an X-ray came back negative, per Alanna Rizzo of SportsNet LA
Joe Kelly’s right wrist x-ray is negative. He’ll pick up a ball tomorrow & see how he feels.
— Alanna Rizzo (@alannarizzo) April 6, 2019
It’s a fortunate result for the Dodgers considering Kelly was their big bullpen acquisition during the offseason, signing a three-year contract worth $25 million.
Getting Blackmon out actually lowered Kelly’s season ERA from 18.00 to 16.20, although the sample size is still obviously very small.
With Kelly, Brock Stewart and Yimi Garcia all struggling, the Dodgers’ bullpen has been their biggest weakness to this point. It is still way too early in the season to be worried though with Friday’s win improving the Dodgers to 6-2 on the year.
