Former Dodger Joe Kelly joins Corona High School coaching staff
Former Major League Baseball pitcher Joe Kelly unofficially retired from professional ball before the 2026 season, but his days on the diamond are slated to continue after it was announced that he would be joining his high school alma mater's coaching staff on Tuesday.
Kelly, 38, will serve as an assistant coach on the Corona High School baseball staff and will "focus on working with our pitchers," said an Instagram post from the CHS Panthers baseball account.
"We are very excited about the impact he will have on and off the field," the post said.
It's unclear exactly how long Kelly is expected to be a member of the Panthers' coaching staff.
Kelly pitched in MLB for 13 years and won two World Series Championships, with the Boston Red Sox in 2018 and the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2020.
Before becoming a pro, Kelly, an Anaheim native, played his high school baseball with CHS before joining UC Riverside for college ball. He was drafted in the third round of the 2009 MLB Draft and made his debut with the St. Louis Cardinals in 2012. He was traded to Boston in 2014, and in 2016, after being used primarily as a starter for much of his career, he was moved to the bullpen.
The move proved highly beneficial for Kelly, the Red Sox and eventually the Dodgers, with whom he wrapped up his playing days in 2024. By lightening the stamina requirement, Kelly was able to focus on his high-octane fastball and sinker, which made him an invaluable bullpen piece. He had a brief stint with the Chicago White Sox in 2022 and part of 2023 before he was traded back to Los Angeles.
Kelly endeared himself to fans at each stop of his career with his on and off the field antics, including in 2020 when he swapped a charro jacket for his jersey with a member of a mariachi band at the Dodgers' Mexican heritage celebration and then wore the jacket to the White House for their championship visit.
In December 2025, Kelly announced that he was hanging up the cleats during an interview on the "Baseball Isn't Boring" podcast. At the time, he said that the concept of an athlete retiring was not comparable to people who "work a real job," work until they're 65 or served in the military.
He finished his career with a 54-38 record, a 3.98 ERA, a 1.368 WHIP and 767 strikeouts in 839 innings pitched.
