Dodgers’ Joe Kelly demolishes ‘lazy’ Yankees after World Series triumph

The Los Angeles Dodgers are still on cloud nine; four years after winning a World Series that many have come to dismiss because it was a COVID-shortened season, they have broken through once more, defeating the New York Yankees 4-1 in the 2024 World Series to exorcise their prior demons. And Joe Kelly is still enjoying the occasion, even going so far as to criticize the Yankees for their weak performance that led to their defeat.

Speaking on the “Baseball Isn’t Boring” podcast, the Dodgers reliever ripped on the Yankees, calling them “lazy” and basically claiming that they rely on skill, making the 2024 World Series a massive mismatch in their favor as long as they played their game, which they did.

“We had seen it every single game just let them throw the ball to the infield, they can’t make a play. It was a mismatch from the get-go. If we had a playoff re-ranking, they might be ranked the eighth or ninth-best playoff team,” Kelly said, via Jenna Lemoncelli of the New York Post.

Kelly then used the opportunity to commend his Dodgers teammates, stating that they were not lazy (unlike the Yankees), which proved to be the difference in what turned out to be a lopsided series despite all of the anticipation surrounding the game.

“We go through numerous scouting reports… We pay attention to every single detail. We have a lot of big superstars in our clubhouse, but our superstars also care and aren’t lazy and play hard. So that’s the difference and the biggest separator,” Kelly added.

It may be irritating for Yankees fans to hear this type of remark from Kelly, a Dodgers player who did not play a single second of the World Series due to injury. But Kelly has always cherished his role as an aggressor, and he is playing it to perfection once more.

Of course, it’s difficult to imagine that a Yankees club that won 94 regular-season games and advanced to the World Series is “lazy”. Talent is usually the most important factor in professional sports, but athletes must also prepare every day in order to play to their full potential.

Unfortunately, in a World Series game against the league’s most stacked club, the Dodgers, the Yankees cannot afford to lose their focus. However, in the fifth inning of Game 5, the Yankees’ three defensive errors proved to be their undoing. Two of them were basic plays that they were unable to handle, lending substance to Kelly’s “lazy” accusations.