Los Kelly Dodgers hard-throwing reliever Joe Kelly has reduced his eight-game delay for throwing at Houston Astros players to five on appeal, ESPN sources Jeff Passan and Kiley McDaniel said.
Kelly was initially given an eight-game penalty by MLB after his unfair pitches and demonstrative taunts cleared a situation of benches at Minute Maid Park in Houston last month. The game marked the first time the teams have met since it was revealed that Houston is putting signs en route to a 2017 World Series title that came at the expense of the Dodgers.
Kelly threw a 3-0, 96 mph fastball behind the head of Astros third baseman Alex Bregman with one out and none in the sixth. Later in the inning he threw two curveballs that brought Carlos Correa back. After knocking him out, Kelly made puffy faces at Correa and shared some keywords with the Astros’ shortstop, which both banks managed to clear.
Under the 60-game format, an eight-game suspension would have more than 13% of the schedule, the equivalent of a 22-game suspension during a typical 162-game season. In the past 10 years, no player has been suspended for more than 20 games for an offense not related to performance-enhancing drugs, recreational drugs, substance abuse, domestic violence or, in the case of Juan Carlos Oviedo, identity fraud.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts called the original suspension “too aggressive” and said he “fully” agreed with Kelly’s decision to appeal. Dodgers outfielder AJ Pollock said he believed it was “very, very hard.”
Kelly was placed on the injured list on Monday due to inflammation in his right shoulder, and added to the mounting list of injuries suffered by pitchers at the start of the short season.
Barstool Sports was the first to report on Kelly’s successful career.
Information from ESPN’s Alden Gonzalez was used in this report.
.
