Joe Kelly is not done yet. The 37-year-old former Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher is working towards an MLB comeback. But here is a catch—he only wants to wear the Dodger blue jersey.

And while Kelly has spent months ramping up his workouts and testing his arm, his one particular “test subject” has sparked a little bit of family drama. At the center of it all was his 5-year-old son, Crew.

In a recent episode of the Baseball Isn’t Boring Podcast, Kelly gave fans a little snapshot of his current throwing regimen. He said, “I’ve been playing by myself, with my friends, my buddies. I still have to throw to them probably two more times.” But during one of those sessions, he made a bold choice to throw to his son, Crew. And that nearly ended his marriage!

So Kelly didn’t throw a soft toss in the backyard to his 5-year-old. He threw a 93 mph fastball near his young son. “I threw a fastball. I threw a 93 mph fastball to my 5-year-old, and I tried to get it close to him—not that close—but I held on to it a little too long, and it smoked the wall right behind him. Then he wouldn’t get in the box anymore. I was like, ‘Get in the box, Crew,’” Kelly admitted. But it was Kelly’s wife who delivered the biggest fastball of the day. Joe Kelly recounted that, “If you ever do that again… I will literally leave you if you would have hit him.”

He even joked that his nine-year-old Knox maybe can step in, indeed. Well, needless to say, Crew is for sure staying far from the batter’s box for now. Well, regardless of the scare, the Los Angeles Dodgers’ veteran is optimistic about his return. His velocity is touching 94-95 mph in his recent sessions. And he is starting to gain command and movement on his breaking balls. However, time is tight, though. To be eligible for a postseason roster, Kelly will need to be signed to a major or minor league contract by September 1. And he isn’t in it to throw hard again; he wants to be good, “I just want to be good.”

Now, whether or not the Dodgers bring him back, Kelly still has that fire. Just don’t expect to see Crew practicing with his father anytime soon!

Los Angeles Dodgers’ depth takes another hit

Meanwhile, while Kelly wants to inch closer to a potential MLB comeback with his former team, the Dodgers themselves are battling an injury crisis, and it’s continuing to pile up, and the latest name to join the list is none other than Tommy Edman. He ended up re-injuring his right ankle on Sunday against the Tampa Bay Rays. It was just a week after he tweaked the same ankle rounding the bases against Boston.  This time, though, it happened as he made the turn around first base. And he limped and was finally pulled out of the game.

The official diagnosis is that it’s a right ankle sprain, and even Dave Roberts didn’t sugarcoat the issue. “It’s a recurrence of what he’s been dealing with… I just don’t see how it’s not an IL.” The timing couldn’t have been worse, given Edman has missed time earlier this season for the same issue. The Dodgers are banking on Max Muncy to make a return soon, and that would provide some relief.

However, Edman’s been a key piece because he is versatile and he could slot in almost anywhere defensively. Sure, his .266 batting average and 88 OPS+ are not eye-popping, but he has played a vital role in last year’s postseason run. Now he will likely be joining the rest of the sidelined players like Muncy, Hyeseong Kim, and Kiké Hernandez. Meanwhile, even Mookie Betts was moved out of the leadoff spot on Sunday, but even that didn’t help spark something defensively. He went 0-for-3 in a 3–0 win.

For sure, the depth is being tested for the Los Angeles Dodgers, and they need more than just returns now. They need health and maybe a little bit of luck to hold things together.