Steve Webb
LOS ANGELES, CA — Not sure if they got better today, but the Dodgers certainly just got more entertaining. Two of MLB’s most colorful characters on the mound are coming to Chavez Ravine for the playoff run.
According to media reports, the Dodgers have traded with the Chicago White Sox for pitchers Lance Lynn and Joe Kelly. In exchange, the Pale Hose will receive outfielder Trayce Thompson, currently rehabbing in Arizona, and two minor league pitchers: RH starter Nick Nastrini (in Double-A), RH reliever Jordan Leasure (Double-A).
The loss of Nastrini stings a little bit, as he was the number 9 prospect on the farm for the Dodgers. Leasure was also a 2021 draft pick. The Dodgers took him in the 14th round out of the University of Tampa. Pitching out of the bullpen for Tulsa this year, he was 2-2 with nine saves and a 3.09 ERA while striking out 56 in 35 innings.
Thompson, who struggled mightily this season before being injured, will look to jump start his career in Chicago, a career that has needed jumper cables on more than one occasion. After a surprisingly good year with the Dodgers in 2022 (hitting 13 home runs and posting a .901 OPS in limited action), Thompson just couldn’t get on track this season. When he went on the IL, his batting average was a meager .155. We wish them all good luck in their new home on the South Side.
But on to the important stuff: what the Dodgers have acquired. And the best way to put it is this: we just got two guys who could be great and have been great, but aren’t great right now. Let’s look at each of them, starting with the familiar first.
Joe Kelly (2023: 29.0 IP, 4.97 ERA, 41 K)
What’s not to love about Mariachi Joe? The guy the Dodgers players almost to a man said that they would most want to have on their side in a fight. Of course, baseball is played with only a minimal amount of brawling, and Kelly needs to show he’s still got it on the mound. Just like his tenure in a Dodger uniform, Kelly has been inconsistent as a reliever for the White Sox. He still has the lively fastball with ridiculous run, but he still has the same control issues that he had when he left the team at the end of 2021. A 1.31 WHIP is far too high for a leverage guy, so Mark Pryor is going to have to help the mercurial Kelly find his mojo once again if he is to be anything more than an entertaining diversion. We shall see. But at the very least, we get to watch this clip again.
Lance Lynn (2023: 6-9, 6.47 ERA, 144 K)
Lynn is the most intriguing piece of this puzzle. In the past, he has been very, very good. He was third in voting for the AL Cy Young award in 2021, a year in which he was a vital part of the Sox run to the top of the Central Division, posting 93 team wins along the way. Lynn himself has been an All Star twice in his career, once with the Cardinals and then again with the White Sox. However, his career hasn’t quite gone to plan these last couple of seasons. Last season his ERA rose from 2.69 in ’21 to 3.99 in ’22, and then this year, it’s been tough sledding most of the year. He posted an 8.00 ERA in April, and has been over 5.00 every month since then.
However, what Lynn gives the Dodgers is what they need: length. Lynn is a guy that will get the ball every fifth day, and just swallow up the innings for you, vital when it comes to keeping a bullpen fresh down the stretch. And, if his ERA takes a hit, so be it. He’ll give you six or seven every start. The Dodgers had better just show up ready to hit on the days his name is on the scorecard. He’s going to need all the run support he can get. But if nothing else, this move give the Dodgers some flexibility as they wait for Kershaw and (hopefully) Buehler to return, and wait for Urias and Gonsolin to get their act together.
And who knows? Lynn might surprise us and be great again. At the very least, your kids will learn some new vocabulary words:
