Veteran reliever missed 77 games on two injured-list stints during 2024, and shoulder issues kept him off the mound in October.
Shoulder injuries took their toll on Joe Kelly’s latest season with the Dodgers, wiping out half of his regular season and all of October.
The veteran reliever returned to Los Angeles on a one-year deal in December 2023, his contract finalized on the same day as Shohei Ohtani, their fates already intertwined by Kelly’s wife Ashley previously campaigning humorously for the Dodgers to sign Ohtani and take Kelly’s number 17. Whatever small part that played in Ohtani choosing the Dodgers, Mrs. Kelly did receive a Porsche out of it. A full-sized car, to boot.
Kelly, now wearing uniform number 99, had a fairly defined role through the season’s first five-plus weeks, pitching in the seventh or eighth innings in each of his first 15 appearances, never pitching in more than one inning. entering 10 times with a lead and once tied during that stretch.
The first setback came in the form of a right shoulder strain, landing on the injured list on May 6 and eventually moving to the 60-day IL. He returned for the first series post-All-Star break after missing 61 games.
Kelly’s next 15 appearances were also confined to the inning in which he entered, but his roles varied, sometimes pitching the sixth or fifth innings, and even the fourth inning once. His earliest appearance came on August 30, in his 31st game of the year, as the designated follower of Clayton Kershaw, who was pitching through a left big toe injury that would end his season. Kershaw exited that game in Phoenix in the second inning, in the first game of a showdown series between two National League West contenders.
The Dodgers were in scramble mode, and Kelly was the first egg cracked. He was tasked to pitch as long as he could, but didn’t have much. He walked two hitters, hit two more, and allowed three singles. How he exited with only two runs allowed after his five outs was a minor miracle. The 46 pitches Kelly threw that Friday were his most in a game since 2016, when he was a starting pitcher.
One day later Kelly was back on the injured list, this time with shoulder inflammation, and he missed 16 more games. Kelly returned and pitched four times in the final two weeks of the regular season, allowing only one run.
Missing time has been part of the deal with Kelly, who has nine injured-list stints over the last five regular seasons, and he was removed from the NLCS roster after Game 5 in 2021 with a right biceps strain. He averaged 42 games and 38 innings over the last four seasons, with this year’s 35 appearances and 32 innings his lowest over a full season since switching to relief pitching nearly a decade ago.
Usually during that time, when Kelly was on the mound, he produced, either by traditional or underlying numbers, and sometimes both. This year though Kelly had the fourth-highest ERA (4.78) of his career, his worst xERA (5.07), and worst FIP (4.57). Kelly also had his lowest strikeout rate (24.5 percent) since 2020, after fanning 31.3 percent of his batters faced in the three seasons in between.
In the five days in between the regular season and NLDS, Kelly tweaked his shoulder again, and was unavailable for the postseason.
2024 particulars
Age: 36
Stats: 4.78 ERA, 5.07 xERA, 35 G, 32 IP, 35 K, 16 BB
Contract: $8 million
Game of the year
Kelly on August 11 pitched a perfect ninth inning with a pair of strikeouts against the Pirates, keeping the game tied. The Dodgers won in the 10th inning.
This was one of 10 perfect outings lasting at least one inning this season.
Roster status
Kelly is a free agent.