Joe Kelly to switch to No.99 jersey in order to open No.17 for Ohtani

Joe Kelly will switch to No.99 in the Los Angeles Dodgers, freeing up the No.17 shirt for arriving superstar Shohei Ohtani.

Kelly confirmed his one-year contract, worth $8m and with it came the announcement of the shirt swap. The No.17 was worn by Ohtani in the Los Angeles Angels.

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A 12-year big league veteran, Kelly is 53-57 with a 3.95 ERA in 81 starts and 369 relief appearances with St. Louis (2012-14), Boston (2014-18), the Dodgers (2019-21, ’23) and the White Sox (2022-23).

He was acquired from the White Sox along with Lance Lynn and he went 2-5 with a 4.23 ERA overall in 42 games. Kelly had signed a $17 million, two-year contract with Chicago.