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Joe Kelly calls it a career after 13 big league seasons
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Photo credit: © Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images
Ryley Delaney
Dec 31, 2025, 15:30 ESTUpdated: Dec 31, 2025, 15:07 EST
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A two-time World Series winner has called it a career.
On an episode of Baseball Isn’t Boring podcast, the 37-year-old said he isn’t playing baseball anymore, adamant on saying that this isn’t a “retirement”.
Drafted in the third round of the 2009 draft by the St. Louis Cardinals, the right-handed pitcher got his start with the Cardinals in 2012. Kelly spent his first four seasons as a starter/bulk reliever, but eventually moved to the bullpen full-time in 2016. During the 2014 season, Kelly was traded to the American League East, joining the Boston Red Sox.
There, he won the first World Series of his career in 2018. During the regular season, Kelly had a 4.39 ERA and 3.57 FIP in 65.2 innings pitched, but his numbers drastically improved in the playoffs, finishing with a 0.79 ERA and 1.13 FIP in 11.1 innings pitched as the Red Sox defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers.
A free agent after the 2018 season, Kelly joined those Dodgers. In 2020, he won his second World Series, as he posted a 1.80 ERA and 3.49 FIP in 10 innings pitched during the regular season, and a 2.45 ERA and 3.19 FIP in 3.2 innings pitched in the playoffs.
Kelly spent most of the 2020s with the Dodgers, aside from a season and a half spent with the Chicago White Sox in 2022 and 2023. The righty was also on the 2024 Dodgers that won the World Series, but wasn’t on their playoff roster. Kelly didn’t pitch in 2025, as he only wanted to pitch with the Dodgers.
Overall, Kelly finished his big league career with a 3.98 ERA and 3.87 FIP in 839 innings pitched, with a 21.1 K% and 9.8 BB%. In the postseason, Kelly pitched 60 innings, with a 3.45 ERA and 3.32 FIP, along with a 22 K% and 8.6 BB%. 
Although he never won any personal awards, Kelly finished with two World Series titles, and was on the regular season roster of another team that won it all (2024 Dodgers). Additionally, the Cardinals won the National League pennant in 2013, but fell to the Red Sox.
Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for Blue Jays Nation, Oilersnation, and FlamesNation. She can be followed on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.

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