Dodgers place Joe Kelly on injured list with forearm inflammation

The Dodgers made a late roster move before Sunday’s series finale against the Rockies, placing right-hander Joe Kelly on the 15-day injured list with right forearm inflammation. There was no corresponding roster move, so Los Angeles is playing a pitcher short in the bullpen for a day.

Kelly also missed 16 days in July with elbow inflammation while with the White Sox, and missed two weeks in April with a right groin strain.

Since getting traded by Chicago to the Dodgers on July 28 along with Lance Lynn, Kelly struck out of his 14 batters faced in four appearances, allowing a hit and three walks in 3⅔ scoreless innings.

Kelly has the highest average leverage index of any Dodgers reliever since the All-Star break, and was a part of what manager Dave Roberts referred to on Thursday as his “trust tree” in the Dodgers bullpen.

“Any team gets caught up in using guys that are in the trust tree a lot. When you have more guys in the trust tree, you can manage workload,” Roberts said Thursday. “Adding Joe, giving Yency a day off when he needs it, or Brasier a day off, Graterol, that’s not always easy. But when we have other guys that can fill in, it makes it a lot easier to give guys opportunities.”

Since then, the Dodgers placed Yency Almonte on the injured list with a right knee sprain on Saturday and now Kelly is sidelined with forearm inflammation.

Kelly’s IL stint is retroactive to Thursday, so the earliest he could return is August 25.