Dodgers Monitoring Joe Kelly’s Workload Despite Increased Role

Ryan Brasier became the latest casualty of a Los Angeles Dodgers pitching staff that has been plagued by injuries this season.

The Dodgers troubles began well before their 2024 season opened in South Korea as they lost both Brusdar Graterol and Blake Treinen during Spring Training in Arizona, robbing them of their two most important bridges to Evan Phillips coming into the season.

The Dodgers troubles didn’t stop there as promising youngster Kyle Hurt was placed on the injured list in April and was recently moved to the 60-day IL due to shoulder inflammation.

Brasier joins the group of injured pitchers with a right calf strain landing him on the injured list.

In Brasier’s absence, Joe Kelly and Daniel Hudson are going to be relied on at the setup relievers for Phillips. However, the Dodgers are going to strike a balance with Kelly’s overall workload, according to Bill Plunkett of the Southern California News Group:

“I think with Joe … we always have to be mindful of his workload,” Roberts said. “He’d probably resist that or argue against that, but he’s not a very physical guy. You’ve just got to be mindful and know that, when he’s strong and the workload’s right, he’s very, very effective and good.

“Obviously with Joe we’re going to have to count on Joe, continue to count on Joe, just the guys that we’ve got. This was a big blow. We’ve got to weather it. I’m sure we’ll be churning through some guys in the next couple weeks. But hopefully we get Blake back. That would be nice, too.”

Kelly was effective for the Dodgers in a limited capacity toward the end of the season following his trade from the Chicago White Sox. He gave up two runs in 10.1 innings to go along with 19 strikeouts and 0.87 WHIP.

He had a rocky start to the year but has shown a lot of improvement in terms of putting up zeros. He has held opponents scoreless in nine of his 11 appearances during the month of April.

Injuries have forced Joe Kelly into new role

Due to his electric stuff but inconsistent command, Kelly’s ideal role has always been a high-risk, high-reward guy that can be dominant, or fall apart quickly. Now the Dodgers are in a spot where they will need to role the dice with Kelly as a high-leverage setup man more often than they may prefer.