Dodgers bringing Joe Kelly back comes with bitter pill

The Los Angeles Dodgers can use as many reliable bullpen arms as they can get right now, mired in a weeks-long slump that defies logic.

What they can’t use, any way you look at it, is the loss of a reliever while welcoming another reliever back.

Regrettably, the baseball gods have chosen the Dodgers to experiment on these past few weeks, bestowing an awful stretch on them after a 13-2 start replete with blown leads and key injuries.

They also appear to be operating on the guiding principle of “an eye for an eye,” leading to an unfortunate confluence of events on Thursday night.

After offseason surgery and a lengthy rehab process, Joe Kelly will finally return to the Dodgers bullpen this weekend.

The cost? Not quite everything, but the corresponding move involved LA placing lefty Scott Alexander on the IL himself, which removes one of their steadiest ‘pen options from the month of April.

The Los Angeles Dodgers have promoted Joe Kelly and lost Scott Alexander.

Even welcoming Kelly back wasn’t an entirely joyous experience for the back end of the bullpen. Classic 2021 stuff, right?

The 31-year-old Alexander has been a rock thus far for a Dodgers ‘pen that’s had to rely on Mitch White and Garrett Cleavinger far more often than they planned to. In 11.2 innings, Alexander (a prime non-tender candidate this offseason who managed to stick around) has posted a 2.31 ERA, 3.87 FIP and a remarkable .686 WHIP. Unfortunately, his shoulder inflammation should knock him out for a bit of time until the injury clarifies itself.

One bullpen arm arrives, another one leaves.

Of course, even getting Kelly back this quickly/on schedule seems like a huge win, considering what the procedure he underwent this offseason was.

Yikes.

Hopefully for the Dodgers, Alexander can dodge a major injury-related bullet, and Kelly can pick up where he left off — in 2019, not 2020. You know, back when he was pitching with a healthy shoulder that didn’t contain a massive cyst knotting its way through his muscles.

Yes, we know his numbers were better in the shortened 2020. Weird game, baseball.

A revamped Kelly will be a boon to this Dodgers bullpen, but we simply hate to lose another essential piece in the process.

Dodgers: Joe Kelly talking importance of Kiké Hernandez after departure is a tough listen

Los Angeles Dodgers fans will be upset to hear Joe Kelly talk about how important Enrique Hernandez was to the team after he signed with the Boston Red Sox.