Dodgers: Joe Kelly Progressing But Still A Ways Away From Being Ready

The Dodgers face a little bit of uncertainty in the bullpen heading into the season. While thereis pleny of talent to go around, the real question is where everyone fits in. 

That would also include starting pitchers. With the depth that the Dodgers have, a few young arms are likely going to be pushed to relief. The signing of Trevor Bauer in February certainly didn’t help clear up that situation, but it’s a great problem to have. 

One guy that the team has some uncertainty about though, is Joe Kelly. He got a slow start to Spring and then had to be held out due to illness. Most recently, Dave Roberts said that he wasn’t sure if Kelly would be ready by Opening Day. But his latest update does offer hope. 

There’s been some good improvement over the last few days. He threw a good bullpen a couple of days ago and I think he’s going to get on the mound again soon and start spinning some breaking balls…But when he faces hitters or gets into games, that’s certainly still down the road.

The Dodgers can afford to have Kelly waiting in the wings if necessary. But the type of arm that he is and the potential that he could add to a bullpen makes it so that they would obviously prefer him healthy and ready to go. 

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Walker Buehler made one change during his offseason that seems to be paying off. The Dodgers reportedly asked him to get his arm ready much sooner than in years past, and it’s resulted in him getting into more games early on. The hope seems to be that he will get a good runway to the season starting, and can play to his full potential right out of the gate.

Edwin Rios recently talked about what he envisions for the 2021 season. The left-handed slugger also talked about coming into this season with a chip on his shoulder. With Justin Turner back in the fold, there doesn’t seem to be a real full-time job for Eddie. But that won’t stop him from tearing the cover off of baseballs. 

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