Dodgers: Trevor Bauer is rocking ‘Free Joe Kelly’ cleats

Impending free agent Trevor Bauer is already endearing himself to Dodgers faithful by showing his support for reliever Joe Kelly.

Cincinnati Reds pitcher Trevor Bauer is an unabashed opponent of the Houston Astros. As such, it is of no surprise that he is throwing his social media weight behind suspended Dodgers reliever Joe Kelly.

Bauer, who is slated to start for the Reds in game two of Wednesday’s double-header with the Kansas City Royals, took to Twitter to show off his custom cleats for the game. Let’s just say, he’s going to make Dodgers Nation proud.

Bauer has been going to war with the Houston Astros over perceived cheating since 2018. While his issues have been more with their pitchers potentially doctoring baseballs to increase spin rate, he’s nonetheless been pleased to see them taken down by a cheating scandal. However, he’s been unable to relish in his glory in person, due to the regional schedule alignment in 2020. Instead, he’s had to live vicariously through others that have taken matters into their own hands.

Enter Joe Kelly, the Dodgers reliever who is slated to serve a five game suspension for throwing a pitch behind Astros’ third baseman Alex Bregman and then taunting shortstop Carlos Correa, inciting benches to clear.

‘Free Joe Kelly’ has been a mantra of players and fans alike, as they look for some sort of retribution involving the Astros players behind the cheating. With Major League Baseball unable to punish the players, Joe Kelly and others have been forced to step in and deal out justice where needed.

For their part, Major League Baseball warned players that taking matters into their own hands would be punished severely. As such, Kelly’s antics were originally returned with an eight-game ban. However, it was subsequently reduced upon appeal.

While Kelly will still serve his suspension upon his return from the injured list, it is nice to know that other players are taking up the battle, even if only symbolically.