Dodgers' Kelly reveals he underwent shoulder surgery
Los Angeles Dodgers right-hander Joe Kelly hasn't pitched since the World Series and recently revealed he underwent shoulder surgery last November.
"We found some cysts," Kelly told WEEI's Rob Bradford. "My shoulder hasn't been good since the end of 2019. But during my suspension after the thing with the (Houston) Astros my arm was super weak. If I was laying on a table I couldn't lift my arm past gravity. They asked me how long it was going on for and I told them forever. I couldn't sleep at night and it felt like fire ants were eating my arm from the inside-out."
Doctors found a "massive" cyst growing on one of Kelly's nerves, which limited him to using 50% of the muscles in his shoulder. The 32-year-old decided to pitch through the injury toward the end of last season before having surgery.
He posted a 4.91 ERA in the regular season after returning from his eight-game suspension before allowing one earned run in 3 2/3 playoff innings.
"I ended up pitching in the World Series topping out at 95 mph, not knowing where it was going because had these cysts on my nerve," Kelly explained. "They ended up putting metal clamps on my labrum and then they decompressed all the cysts. They sucked out some loose bodies from my rotator cuff. So it was a good little surgery."
The hard-throwing reliever said he registered in the high 90s with his fastball during recent simulated games and is hopeful for a return to the Dodgers' bullpen soon.
Kelly is in the last year of a three-year, $25-million deal he signed before the 2019 season began.