GLENDALE, Ariz. — When the Dodgers players scattered following the end of their 2019 season, many had offseason trips planned to tropical locales in Hawaii, Cancun and Aruba. But the most frequent destination seems to have been … Seattle.

Add Joe Kelly to the list of Dodgers pitchers – one that includes Clayton Kershaw, Kenley Jansen and Alex Wood – who made a trip to Driveline Baseball near Seattle. The sports complex located in Kent, Wash., specializes in data-driven performance training for pitchers and hitters and has become one of the real winners in the tech revolution that has overtaken baseball.

It’s their work with pitchers that has gained the most traction – earning founder Kyle Boddy a job with the Cincinnati Reds (as director of pitching initiatives and pitching coordinator). Another Driveline instructor, Rob Hill, has joined the Dodgers as a pitching coordinator this spring.

While Kershaw seems to have made the trip out of curiosity more than anything, both Wood and Jansen have been vocal about their belief in the benefits of the motion-capture analysis and movement drills they went through at Driveline. Motivated to try it after conversations with Cincinnati’s Trevor Bauer (the poster child for Driveline’s benefits, particularly in velocity gain), Wood made multiple trips this past offseason.

Kelly went looking for his own answers. Specifically, his fastball is above average in velocity (an average of 97.7 mph last season) but below average in spin rate (around 2,150 rpm).

Driveline was able to put a finger on it for him.

“It was one of those things we’re trying to figure out why,” he said of his eight-hour, compressed session at Driveline. “I was throwing fastballs with just one finger. I saw it on the video. There’s only one finger touching the ball (at release). Now I’m just trying to get two fingers, to release the ball at the same point.

“This (index) finger would fall off and this (middle) finger would throw it. … I could feel it but I didn’t know what I was doing wrong – until someone tells you, you know.”

Kelly has made a slight alteration to his fastball grip.

But the trip to Driveline wasn’t Kelly’s only offseason investment in his career-long search for consistency. The 31-year-old also spent the winter working out at the Dodgers’ Camelback Ranch complex, altering his workout to fit his body – a lean 6-foot-1, 170 pounds.

“I was here every day working out with the strength coaches, trying to find a program that will be more suitable for my body just because – for how small my frame is, how quick my muscles and tendons are wound,” Kelly said. “It was one of those things that we had to do kind of different lifts, specialize, get in the training room before I lift. It was a little bit different type of things than I’ve been used to, but it’s showed good so far.”

Indeed. Kelly proudly noted that his curveball velocity was 89 mph during his one inning of work in Wednesday’s game and his fastball was solidly in the mid-90s.

“It just shows my body feels healthy,” he said. “It’s really nice when first appearance of the spring I’m throwing my curveball as hard I was when I’m healthy. It usually takes a little bit, like a couple of weeks to get all the numbers working the right way. That was good to see. That’s my biggest takeaway.”

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Dodgers pound Rockies for season-high 15 runs, win fourth in a row The biggest takeaway from Kelly’s turbulent first season with the Dodgers, according to Manager Dave Roberts, was respect for the way he handled his early-season struggles. Kelly had a 5.28 ERA at the All-Star break, pitched well for a while but then was limited by an unspecified injury. Despite those limitations, Roberts sent him out for a second inning in Game 5 of the NLDS and Kelly allowed the series-deciding grand slam to Howie Kendrick.

“Yeah I think consistency, certainly for him and getting ahead,” Roberts said of the challenges for Kelly. “He’s got really good stuff as far as three plus-pitches. There was a little bit of bad luck last year but then there was some health. But I just think we all learned a lot from Joe as far as how he handled that tough start.”

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Right-hander Jimmy Nelson threw a bullpen session but “didn’t feel good coming out of it,” Roberts said. “So we’re going to take a step back with him.” The problem is described as “lower body discomfort” and Roberts said it “remains to be seen” when Nelson will throw off a mound again. Roberts has already dismissed Nelson’s chances of earning a spot in the starting rotation. The Dodgers are looking at him for a bullpen role.