Dodgers Dugout: Joe Kelly will answer your questions

Hi, and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell, and in sad news, Tanner Boyle has also been deemed ineligible for the World Baseball Classic for disciplinary reasons.

Former Dodgers reliever Joe Kelly, now pitching for the Chicago White Sox, has agreed to answer selected questions from Dodgers Dugout readers.

Kelly is well known among Dodgers fans for an incident during a July 28, 2020 game against the Houston Astros. It was the first time the Dodgers had returned to Houston since the Astros cheated to win the 2017 World Series. Kelly came in to pitch the sixth inning and sailed a pitch over the head over Alex Bregman. He pitched up and in to Yuli Gurriel. When he struck out Carlos Correa to end the inning, Correa glared at Kelly, who glared back and made a pouty face toward Correa.

The pouty face made Kelly an instant fan favorite, and a mural of Kelly was even painted in his honor in Silver Lake.

Kelly has written (along with Rob Bradford) a book titled “A Damn Near Perfect Game: Reclaiming America’s Pastime” that will be available Tuesday.

Kelly agreed to answer questions from readers of this newsletter. Please send me an email with your question to houston.mitchell@latimes.com. Please make sure the subject line reads Ask Joe Kelly. I will select some questions for Kelly to answer. His answers will appear in a future newsletter. You have until Sunday at 6 p.m. to send in your question.

James Outman

I probably get more emails asking if James Outman will make the team than I do for any other player. Well, if you are an Outman fan, some bad news. On Tuesday, manager Dave Roberts said that Jason Heyward is the early favorite for what will probably be the final outfield spot.

“The swing mechanically is a lot more clean,” Roberts said. “I was impressed with the live pitching, how he was on time and the rhythm of it. He’s worked really hard this winter and it looks a lot better than it has in the past.”

The Dodgers are expected to carry five outfielders, and if a spot goes to Heyward that means the outfielders will be: Heyward, Mookie Betts, Chris Taylor, David Peralta and Trayce Thompson.

Poll results

In Tuesday’s newsletter, I asked for your thoughts on the new rules for this season. The results, after 11,969 votes:

Do you like the pitch timer rule?

Yes, 40.1%
No, 59.9%

Do you like the limited pickoffs rule?

Yes, 24.2%
No, 75.8%

Do you like the banning the shift rule?

Yes, 68.3%
No, 31.7%

Do you like bigger bases?

Yes, 52.1%
No, 47.9%

Do you like the new rule about the pitcher’s windup?

Yes, 49.7%
No, 50.3%

Do you like the rule for position players pitching?

Yes, 36.2%
No, 63.8%

Do you like the ghost runners rule?

Yes, 25.4%
No, 74.6%

In case you missed it

Hernández: Freddie Freeman feels more settled. What that could mean for the Dodgers in 2023

Padres won’t block Dodgers fans from buying Petco Park tickets, at least in the regular season

And finally

Tommy Lasorda has Montreal Expos mascot Youppi! thrown out of the game. Watch and listen here.