Joe Kelly knows a thing or two about going through some ups and downs as a reliever in Major League Baseball.
The right-handed reliever went through some pretty drastic highs and lows during his four-and-half years in Boston, particularly in 2018, when he almost was left off the playoff roster, but then bounced back to have a dominant postseason. That led to him landing a monster deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers in the offseason. And Kelly’s 2019 got off to a rather brutal start, where batters hit more than .300 against him in April and May.
So naturally, Kelly, who is back at Fenway Park for the first time since leaving the Red Sox, has an optimistic outlook on the Red Sox’s current bullpen state.
“It’s bullpen. It happens. At times guys pitch good. At times guys pitch bad. It’s just one of those things. They have a good team over there and a good bullpen,” Kelly told reporters Friday, via MassLive’s Matt Vautour. “I know all those guys very well. … It seems they just hit their slump at the same time. They’re good athletes. They’re good players. I think it’s something fans worry about more than those guys over there. I think if they could keep slumping for one more series, that’d be good.”
Kelly went on to point out that teams can cover for one or two relievers going through a slump, but when several relievers all hit a rough patch, as such was the case in Boston, things can get pretty ugly. But if use Kelly as an example, it’s apparent a bullpen can turn it around just as quickly as they hit their slump.
