What years did Joe Kelly play?

Joe Kelly played in Major League Baseball from 2012 to 2024.

Was Joe Kelly a pitcher?

Yes. Joe Kelly pitched in the major leagues, recording 54 wins and 767 strikeouts.

How many home runs did Joe Kelly hit?

Joe Kelly hit 0 career home runs with 15 hits.

What teams did Joe Kelly play for?

Joe Kelly played for 4 teams: the St. Louis Cardinals (2012–2014), the Boston Red Sox (2014–2018), the Los Angeles Dodgers (2019–2021, 2023–2024), and the Chicago White Sox (2022–2023).

What were Joe Kelly's career stats?

In 485 games, Joe Kelly went 54-38 with a 3.98 ERA, 767 strikeouts, 839.0 innings pitched, and 7 saves.

What was Joe Kelly's salary?

Joe Kelly's last recorded salary was $2,600,000, in 2016. His highest recorded salary was $2,600,000, in 2016, and his lowest was $493,000, in 2013. The Salary History table lists each season from 2013 to 2016.

What position did Joe Kelly play?

Joe Kelly played primarily as a pitcher, the position where he appeared in the most games.

How tall was Joe Kelly and how much did he weigh?

Joe Kelly was listed at 6 feet 1 inch and 174 pounds.

What was Joe Kelly's career ERA?

Joe Kelly finished with a 3.98 career ERA, going 54-38 with 767 strikeouts.

How many strikeouts did Joe Kelly have?

Joe Kelly recorded 767 career strikeouts.

Is Joe Kelly in the Hall of Fame?

No. Joe Kelly has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Joe Kelly

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (2012-2024)

Joe Kelly was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 2012 to 2024 for 4 teams, including the St. Louis Cardinals, a span of 13 seasons. Across 485 career appearances, he went 54-38 with a 3.98 ERA and 767 strikeouts. His career Pitcher PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of pitching impact — is 4017.8.

W (Wins):: Games credited to a pitcher whose team took a lead it never surrendered while he was the pitcher of record.
ERA (Earned Run Average):: Earned runs allowed per nine innings pitched: (ER × 9) ÷ IP. The primary measure of pitching effectiveness.
SO (Strikeouts):: For a batter, times retired on a third strike; for a pitcher, batters retired on a third strike.
WHIP (Walks and Hits per Inning Pitched):: Baserunners allowed per inning: (BB + H) ÷ IP. Under 1.00 is elite.

Data updated October 15, 2026

W–L 54–38

ERA 3.98

WHIP 1.37

SO 767

Pitcher PIV 4017.8

Position: Pitcher
Bats / Throws: R / R
Height / Weight: 6'1" / 174 lb
Born: 6/9/1988 in Anaheim, CA, USA
MLB Debut: 2012-06-10
Last Game: 2024-09-27

Full name: Joseph William Kelly

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Career Pitching Statistics

Joe Kelly — Career Pitching Statistics
W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA	Pitcher PIV
54	38	485	81	0	0	7	839.0	793	371	73	355	767	3.98	4017.8

Career ERA 3.98 vs. league average 4.13 across their career seasons — near league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Joe Kelly (b. 1988) Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year	Team	Lg	W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA	Lg ERA	Pitcher PIV
2012	SLN	NL	5	7	24	16	0	107.0	112	42	36	75	3.53	4.01 (+12%)	36.5
2013	SLN	NL	10	5	37	15	0	124.0	124	37	44	79	2.69	3.87 (+31%)	-440.4
2014	SLN	NL	2	2	7	7	0	35.0	41	17	10	25	4.37	3.74 (-17%)	-167.7
2014	BOS	AL	4	2	10	10	0	61.1	47	28	32	41	4.11	3.74 (-10%)	-1342.1
2015	BOS	AL	10	6	25	25	0	134.1	145	72	49	110	4.82	3.96 (-22%)	-719.6
2016	BOS	AL	4	0	20	6	0	40.0	44	23	24	48	5.17	4.19 (-24%)	-131.7
2017	BOS	AL	4	1	54	0	0	58.0	42	18	27	52	2.79	4.36 (+36%)	1280.6
2018	BOS	AL	4	2	73	0	2	65.2	57	32	32	68	4.39	4.15 (-6%)	960.1
2019	LAN	NL	5	4	55	0	1	51.1	49	26	22	62	4.56	4.51 (-1%)	941.6
2020	LAN	NL	0	0	12	1	0	10.0	8	2	7	9	1.80	4.45 (+60%)	241.0
2021	LAN	NL	2	0	48	0	2	44.0	28	14	15	50	2.86	4.27 (+33%)	1316.9
2022	CHA	AL	1	3	43	1	1	37.0	36	25	23	53	6.08	3.97 (-53%)	848.1
2023	CHA	AL	1	5	31	0	1	29.0	26	16	12	41	4.97	4.33 (-15%)	810.4
2023	LAN	NL	1	0	11	0	0	10.1	3	2	6	19	1.74	4.33 (+60%)	779.8
2024	LAN	NL	1	1	35	0	0	32.0	31	17	16	35	4.78	4.08 (-17%)	-395.7
Career · 15 seasons			54	38	485	81	7	839.0	793	371	355	767	3.98	—	4,018

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Career Batting Statistics

Joe Kelly — Career Batting Statistics
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	PIV
493	92	7	15	4	0	0	5	1	0	27	.163	.179	.207	.385	0

Career AVG .163 vs. league average .250 across their career seasons — 34.8% below league average.

Career OBP .179 vs. league average .318 across their career seasons — 43.7% below league average.

Career SLG .207 vs. league average .409 across their career seasons — 49.5% below league average.

Career OPS .385 vs. league average .727 across their career seasons — 46.9% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Joe Kelly (b. 1988) Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year	Team	Lg	G	AB	R	H	2B	RBI	SB	SO	AVG	Lg AVG	Lg OBP	Lg SLG	Lg OPS	PIV
2012	SLN	NL	29	33	3	5	2	2	0	13	.152	—	—	—	—	0.0
2013	SLN	NL	40	33	4	5	1	2	0	8	.152	—	—	—	—	0.0
2014	SLN	NL	7	12	0	2	1	0	0	1	.167	—	—	—	—	0.0
2014	BOS	AL	10	4	0	2	0	0	1	1	.500	—	—	—	—	0.0
2015	BOS	AL	25	5	0	1	0	1	0	2	.200	—	—	—	—	0.0
2016	BOS	AL	20	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
2017	BOS	AL	54	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
2018	BOS	AL	73	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
2019	LAN	NL	55	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
2020	LAN	NL	12	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
2021	LAN	NL	48	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
2022	CHA	AL	43	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
2023	CHA	AL	31	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
2023	LAN	NL	11	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
2024	LAN	NL	35	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
Career · 15 seasons			493	92	7	15	4	5	1	27	.163	—	—	—	—	0

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Postseason Statistics

Playoff Career Batting

Joe Kelly — Playoff Career Batting
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
41	8	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	5	.125

Playoff Batting by Year

Joe Kelly — Playoff Batting by Year
Year	Round	Team	G	AB	R	H	SO	AVG
2023	NLDS2	LAN	1	0	0	0	0	.000
2021	NLCS	LAN	4	0	0	0	0	.000
2021	NLDS2	LAN	2	0	0	0	0	.000
2021	NLWC	LAN	1	0	0	0	0	.000
2020	NLCS	LAN	2	0	0	0	0	.000
2020	NLDS1	LAN	1	0	0	0	0	.000
2020	WS	LAN	2	0	0	0	0	.000
2019	NLDS1	LAN	3	0	0	0	0	.000
2018	ALCS	BOS	3	0	0	0	0	.000
2018	ALDS1	BOS	1	0	0	0	0	.000
2018	WS	BOS	5	0	0	0	0	.000
2017	ALDS2	BOS	2	0	0	0	0	.000
2016	ALDS2	BOS	3	0	0	0	0	.000
2013	NLCS	SLN	2	4	1	1	2	.250
2013	NLDS1	SLN	1	2	0	0	2	.000
2013	WS	SLN	1	2	0	0	1	.000
2012	NLCS	SLN	4	0	0	0	0	.000
2012	NLDS1	SLN	3	0	0	0	0	.000

Playoff Career Pitching

Joe Kelly — Playoff Career Pitching
W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
4	3	41	5	1	60.0	54	23	22	56	3.45

Playoff Pitching by Year

Joe Kelly — Playoff Pitching by Year
Year	Round	Team	W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
2023	NLDS2	LAN	0	0	1	0	0	1.2	2	0	1	3	0.00
2021	NLCS	LAN	0	0	4	1	0	3.0	2	2	0	4	6.00
2021	NLDS2	LAN	1	0	2	0	0	1.2	3	1	1	0	5.40
2021	NLWC	LAN	0	0	1	0	0	0.2	0	0	0	1	0.00
2020	NLCS	LAN	0	0	2	0	0	1.1	2	0	0	0	0.00
2020	NLDS1	LAN	0	0	1	0	1	0.1	0	0	2	0	0.00
2020	WS	LAN	0	0	2	0	0	2.0	2	1	0	3	4.50
2019	NLDS1	LAN	0	1	3	0	0	2.1	5	6	5	4	23.14
2018	ALCS	BOS	1	1	3	0	0	3.0	3	1	0	2	3.00
2018	ALDS1	BOS	0	0	1	0	0	2.1	1	0	0	1	0.00
2018	WS	BOS	1	0	5	0	0	6.0	4	0	0	10	0.00
2017	ALDS2	BOS	1	0	2	0	0	2.2	4	0	0	1	0.00
2016	ALDS2	BOS	0	0	3	0	0	3.2	0	0	0	3	0.00
2013	NLCS	SLN	0	1	2	2	0	11.0	13	6	2	8	4.91
2013	NLDS1	SLN	0	0	1	1	0	5.1	5	2	4	5	3.38
2013	WS	SLN	0	0	1	1	0	5.1	2	2	3	6	3.38
2012	NLCS	SLN	0	0	4	0	0	4.0	6	2	3	2	4.50
2012	NLDS1	SLN	0	0	3	0	0	3.2	0	0	1	3	0.00

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (978 games) →

Per-game data from Retrosheet (regular season, through 2025).

Batting — Home / Away

Joe Kelly — Batting — Home / Away
Split	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	AVG
Home	239	47	5	6	0	2	.128
Away	254	45	2	9	0	3	.200

Pitching — Home / Away

Joe Kelly — Pitching — Home / Away
Split	G	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Home	234	417.0	403	185	175	379	3.99
Away	251	422.0	390	186	180	388	3.97

Last 10 Games — Pitching

Joe Kelly — Last 10 Games — Pitching
Date	Tm	Opp	Dec	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR
2024-09-27	LAD	COL	—	1.1	0	0	0	0	1	0
2024-09-22	LAD	COL	—	1.0	0	0	0	0	2	0
2024-09-20	LAD	COL	—	1.0	1	1	1	2	2	0
2024-09-18	LAD	MIA	—	1.0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2024-08-30	LAD	AZ	—	1.2	3	2	2	2	1	0
2024-08-24	LAD	TBR	L	1.0	2	2	1	0	0	1
2024-08-20	LAD	SEA	W	1.0	0	0	0	1	1	0
2024-08-19	LAD	SEA	—	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	0
2024-08-16	LAD	STL	—	1.0	0	0	0	1	1	0
2024-08-12	LAD	MIL	—	0.1	3	1	1	0	1	1

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Joe Kelly — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
P	485	81	71	109	18	9

Season-by-Season Fielding

Joe Kelly — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year	Team	Pos	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
2012	SLN	P	24	16	11	19	2	3
2013	SLN	P	37	15	13	16	3	2
2014	SLN	P	7	7	2	3	0	0
2014	BOS	P	10	10	3	3	0	0
2015	BOS	P	25	25	20	23	4	1
2016	BOS	P	20	6	2	3	1	0
2017	BOS	P	54	0	3	3	1	0
2018	BOS	P	73	0	3	8	2	0
2019	LAN	P	55	0	4	8	4	0
2020	LAN	P	12	1	0	2	0	1
2021	LAN	P	48	0	2	4	0	0
2022	CHA	P	43	1	3	4	0	1
2023	CHA	P	31	0	3	6	0	0
2023	LAN	P	11	0	0	2	1	1
2024	LAN	P	35	0	2	5	0	0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Joe Kelly (b. 1988) Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position	Games
Pitcher	485

Salary History

Joe Kelly's recorded salaries total $4,219,000 over 4 seasons, 2013 to 2016. This total is partial: the salary data covers 1985 to 2016, and Kelly's career ran from 2012 to 2024. His seasons after 2016 are not included, and no salary is recorded for 2012.

Joe Kelly — Salary History
Year	Team	League	Salary
2016	BOS	AL	$2,600,000
2015	BOS	AL	$603,000
2014	SLN	NL	$523,000
2013	SLN	NL	$493,000
Total recorded salary (partial)			$4,219,000

College History

Joe Kelly — College History
School Name	City	State	Years Attended
University of California - Riverside	Riverside	CA	2007, 2008, 2009

Most Similar Players

Career comps based on counting + rate stats and primary position. Score is relative — closest peer anchors at ~98%.

Career Spans

Joe Kelly (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

Joe Kelly: the record in brief

Joe Kelly played a first major league game on June 10, 2012 and a last one on September 27, 2024. Club by club, the record runs the St. Louis Cardinals (2012 to 2014), the Boston Red Sox (2014 to 2018), the Los Angeles Dodgers (2019 to 2024), and the Chicago White Sox (2022 to 2023). The bio lists Kelly as a pitcher who threw and hit right-handed. Height and weight on file: 6-foot-1 and 174 pounds. The birth record reads June 9, 1988, in Anaheim, CA, USA. Kelly's full given name, per the bio, is Joseph William Kelly.

The pitching table credits Kelly with a 54-38 record and a 3.98 ERA in 485 games. Also on Kelly's record: 767 strikeouts. Kelly's 3.98 ERA was close to the 4.13 league figure for those seasons. The best win total was 10, in 2013. Kelly struck out 110 batters in 2015, a career high. 2013 was Kelly's sharpest full season, a 2.69 ERA against the league's 3.87.

Frequently Asked Questions about Joe Kelly

What years did Joe Kelly play?: Joe Kelly played in Major League Baseball from 2012 to 2024.
Was Joe Kelly a pitcher?: Yes. Joe Kelly pitched in the major leagues, recording 54 wins and 767 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Joe Kelly hit?: Joe Kelly hit 0 career home runs with 15 hits.
What teams did Joe Kelly play for?: Joe Kelly played for 4 teams: the St. Louis Cardinals (2012–2014), the Boston Red Sox (2014–2018), the Los Angeles Dodgers (2019–2021, 2023–2024), and the Chicago White Sox (2022–2023).
What were Joe Kelly's career stats?: In 485 games, Joe Kelly went 54-38 with a 3.98 ERA, 767 strikeouts, 839.0 innings pitched, and 7 saves.
How much did Joe Kelly earn in his career?: Joe Kelly's recorded salaries total $4,219,000 over 4 seasons, 2013 to 2016. This total is partial: the salary data covers 1985 to 2016, and Kelly's career ran from 2012 to 2024. His seasons after 2016 are not included, and no salary is recorded for 2012.
What was Joe Kelly's salary?: Joe Kelly's last recorded salary was $2,600,000, in 2016. His highest recorded salary was $2,600,000, in 2016, and his lowest was $493,000, in 2013. The Salary History table lists each season from 2013 to 2016.
What position did Joe Kelly play?: Joe Kelly played primarily as a pitcher, the position where he appeared in the most games.
How tall was Joe Kelly and how much did he weigh?: Joe Kelly was listed at 6 feet 1 inch and 174 pounds.
What was Joe Kelly's career ERA?: Joe Kelly finished with a 3.98 career ERA, going 54-38 with 767 strikeouts.
How many strikeouts did Joe Kelly have?: Joe Kelly recorded 767 career strikeouts.
Is Joe Kelly in the Hall of Fame?: No. Joe Kelly has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.