Joe Kelly became the first pitcher this season to draw a suspension for blatantly throwing at Houston Astros players, but his motivation for sending a message may be a bit surprising to some.
Kelly, who was not with the Los Angeles Dodgers when Houston beat them in the 2018 World Series, discussed his disdain for the Astros during a recent appearance on “The Big Swing” podcast with teammate Ross Stripling. The right-hander said the way Houston players got immunity in MLB’s investigation of their sign-stealing scheme and ratted out their coaches bothered him way more than the cheating itself.
“The people who took the fall for what happened is nonsense,” Kelly said, as transcribed by ESPN’s Buster Olney. “Yes, everyone is involved. But the way that (sign-stealing system) was run over there was not from coaching staff. … They’re not the head boss in charge of that thing. It’s the players. So now the players get the immunity, and all they do is go snitch like a little b—-, and they don’t have to get fined, they don’t have to lose games.”
Kelly was initially suspended for eight games for throwing near the heads of both Alex Bregman and Carlos Correa. The podcast was taped before his suspension was reduced to five games, but we doubt Kelly feels any differently now.
Former Astros bench coach Alex Cora was Kelly’s manager with the Boston Red Sox, and Cora lost his job over the Astros scandal along with general manager Jeff Luhnow and manager AJ Hinch. Kelly said Cora hasn’t explained his side of the story “because he’s a respectable man” and blasted Astros players for “ruining other people’s lives.”
“Maybe they have called AC (Cora) and said, ‘Hey, I’m sorry.’ Or called Luhnow and said, ‘Hey, I’m sorry.’ Or called Hinch, and (Carlos) Beltran. … If they had said, ‘Hey, I’m super-scared, I didn’t know what to do, I didn’t want to lose money, I had to rat.’ … Grow a pair of balls and say that,” Kelly said.
Kelly’s suspension was criticized by several MLB players as being too harsh, and the way he taunted Correa became a viral meme. While most have focused on the sign-stealing itself, Kelly clearly believes the Astros players’ worst infraction was not holding themselves accountable.
The Houston Astros are confirmed cheaters and deserve an asterisk. Send that message by wearing our Houston Asterisks T-shirt! You can buy it here:
