As if Yankees fans weren’t already down in the dumps, Joe Kelly thought now would be the perfect time to pile on a little bit more.
The Los Angeles Dodgers reliever had some choice words for the Yankees despite not taking the mound in the World Series, calling them the “eighth- or ninth-best playoff team” on the Baseball Isn’t Boring podcast.
“It was just a mismatch from the get-go,” Kelly said, claiming there was a stark gap in the way the two teams prepared and the minute details that the teams paid attention to. “If we had a playoff re-ranking, they might be ranked eighth- or ninth-best playoff team.”
He listed the New York Mets, San Diego Padres, Atlanta Braves, Philadelphia Phillies and Cleveland Guardians among the teams he believes would rank higher than the Yankees.
The Dodgers reliever didn’t take the mound of the World Series due to a shoulder injury, but believed that L.A. was too talented to lose to a team that he viewed as worse than the competition they had already gone through.
He also fired some shots at the Yankees stars, insinuating that there was a notable difference in the two teams’ headliners.
“We have a lot of big superstars in our clubhouse, but our superstars also care and aren’t lazy and play hard,” Kelly said. “That’s the difference and the biggest separator.”
The Dodgers downed the Yankees in five games to win the franchise’s eighth World Series and their second in five seasons. The clinching Game 5 featured a plethora of mistakes from the Yankees in a now notorious fifth inning.
Kelly claimed that those mistakes and other defensive lapses were essentially part of the Dodgers’ game plan to take advantage of a suspect Yankees defence.
“We were saying every single game, just let them throw the ball to the infield, they can’t make a play,” he said. “You saw. Shohei got an extra base going to third off a sloppy Gleyber play. It’s well-known. We all knew. I mean we’re the Dodgers, we know every little detail.”
It should come as no surprise that Kelly has a bone to pick with the Yankees. The 36-year-old reliever spent five years with the Boston Red Sox before joining the Dodgers, winning a World Series with them in 2018.
In 2018, he got into a bench-clearing brawl with then-Yankees first baseman Tyler Austin after hitting him with a pitch.
The righty is currently a free agent.
