Joe Kelly’s postgame comments after the Dodgers’ World Series-clinching win made waves throughout social media, as the Los Angeles pitcher ripped the Yankees’ sloppy defense after the New York’s fifth-inning meltdown cost them a chance to force a Game 6.
Turns out, Kelly was just getting started.
Asked again about the Yankees' fundamentals and his comments on the field after the Dodgers won Game 5, Kelly made it clear that New York’s struggles with fundamental baseball were a major talking point within the clubhouse heading into the World Series.
“They got bad ball. Yeah, sloppy. Everyone knows that,” Kelly told the Baseball Isn’t Boring podcast with Rob Bradford. “We were saying every single game, ‘Just let them throw the ball into the infield, they can’t make a play.’ You saw Shohei get an extra base going to third off a sloppy Gleyber play. It’s well known. We all knew.”
The Dodgers stole Game 1 after Gleyber Torres couldn’t field a short-hop from the outfield, allowing Shohei Ohtani to advance to third and eventually score the tying run on a sacrifice fly, setting up Freddie Freeman’s walk-off grand slam. The Yanks held a 5-0 lead in Game 5 before a comedy of errors and mental gaffes led to five unearned runs in the fifth inning, an implosion that Kelly and the Dodgers were waiting for.
“It was just a mismatch from the get-go,” Kelly said. “If we had a playoff re-ranking, they would be ranked the eighth or ninth-best playoff team. You’re putting the Padres ahead of them, you’re putting the Phillies ahead of them, you’re putting the Mets ahead of them, you’re putting the Braves ahead of them. They just got unlucky because they had to play that doubleheader. The Guardians played like crap, but the Guardians play better baseball all around. It was just a complete mismatch.”
The Yanks dispatched of the Guardians in five games in the ALCS, but they overcame defensive and baserunning blunders in that series thanks to clutch home runs by the likes of Juan Soto and Giancarlo Stanton. They had no such luck against the Dodgers, a team Kelly says prided themselves much more on fundamentals and making the necessary plays, and it showed in the Fall Classic.
“We go through numerous scouting videos and reports...we have a lot of big superstars in our clubhouse, but our big stars also care and aren’t lazy, and play hard,” Kelly said. “That’s the difference and the biggest separator.”