The pitcher who won a total of 48 wins in the KBO League has now been reborn as a starting pitcher representing the major leagues. Now, he also looks to be ranked first in earned run average.
Arizona Diamondbacks’ right-hander Merrill Kelly (35) showed off ‘masterpiece pitching’. Kelly took the mound as a starting pitcher in a home game against the Cincinnati Reds in the 2023 Major League Baseball held at Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona on the 25th (hereinafter Korean time).
Kelly, who left 5 hits, 4 walks, 3 strikeouts and 3 runs in 5⅓ innings, including a home run to Kim Ha-seong as a starting pitcher in the game against the San Diego Padres on the 20th, showed a distinctly different pitching in this game.
Kelly, who threw 86 pitches in 7 innings, put 64 of them as strikes. In the meantime, he only got one hit and allowed no walks. In a word, it showed perfect game-level pitching. The number of strikeouts was 12. He tied the most in his single-match career.
He also managed to lower his season earned run average to 2.97, moving him up to third in the National League’s earned run average category. He ranks first with a 2.73 earned run average with Blake Snell (San Diego) and second with a 2.80 earned run average with Justin Steel (Chicago Cubs). These are the three people who currently record an ERA in the 2-point range throughout the major leagues. It is noteworthy whether Kelly will be able to top the ERA for the first time since Ryu Hyun-jin (Toronto Blue Jays) of the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2019 from the KBO League.
On this day, Kelly used various pitches such as changeup (26), four-seam fastball (23), cutter (19), slider (10), curve (5), and sinker (3). It came out to 93.2 miles (150 km).
In the top of the first inning, Kelly got off to a good start by striking out TJ Friedel on a swing, but in the top of the third inning, lead batter Noelbi Marte hit a left-handed double, but Will Benson and Tyler Stevenson were struck out consecutively and Friedel was fly out to shortstop. , and managed to finish the inning without conceding.
Kelly, who struck out Matt McLane and Eli Della Cruz in a row in the top of the 4th inning, struck out Benson and Stevenson again in a row in the 6th inning, putting on a ‘strikeout show’. The highlight was episode 7. McLane, Dela Cruz, and Spencer Steer were all struck out.스포츠토토
Arizona took a 1-0 lead at the bottom of the 7th inning when Jace Peterson hit the right wall with a one-bound hit, and Kelly tried to continue pitching in the top of the 8th, but complained of pain as he grabbed the back of his right leg, and was eventually replaced by Kyle Nelson. it has become Kelly had been substituted during the match against the Los Angeles Dodgers on the 9th due to right hamstring pain. As if by a twist of fate, Arizona allowed a 1-1 tie with Nick Senzel’s left-handed solo home run, and Kelly’s victory flew like that. The game ended with Arizona winning 3-2.
Kelly is a familiar player to domestic fans as he played for SK Wyverns (now SSG Landers) from 2015 to 2018. In 2018, his last season playing in Korea, he threw 158⅓ innings, recording 12 wins and 7 losses with an average ERA of 4.09, and also accompanied SK’s Korean Series victory that year. KBO League career record is 729⅔innings 48 wins 32 losses average ERA 3.86.