CALIFORNIA—Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Joe Kelly appealed his eight game suspension and was successful, lowering it to five games.
Kelly received an eight game suspension after the team’s July 28 game against the Houston Astros after allegedly throwing directly in the area of the head of Astros’ Alex Bregman. He also taunted and mocked Astros’ player Carlos Correa after striking out the short-stop. The whole incident resulted in a bench-clearing fiasco. Kelly was not happy with his punishment and appealed the suspension.
Kelly was not part of the 2017 Dodgers team during the Astros World Series cheating scandal; he was a member of the Boston Red Sox who lost to the Astros as well. Many MLB teams are upset over the lack of punishment Astros players received after the cheating scandal was exposed, where the team stole signs electronically, leading to their victory in the World Series in 2017.
Kelly is currently on the injured list with inflammation in his right shoulder, but will still need to serve out his suspension once he is activated.