Unlikely hero Merrill Kelly has coming out party in Diamondbacks' World Series win
ARLINGTON, Texas − Starting pitcher Merrill Kelly walked out of the Arizona Diamondbacks dugout, past the infield, onto the Globe Life Field turf Saturday night, preparing to to play catch before the biggest game of his life.
He stretched, loosened up, and just before he was about to throw his first warm-up pitch, stopped, looked, and yelled towards Diamondbacks bullpen coach Mike Fetters.
“Guess what’s going on?’’ he said.
Fetters: “What?’’
“I get to pitch in a World Series today Fet-Dog,’’ Kelly told Fetters.
“So, yeah, he was pretty excited,’’ Fetters said.
Just a few hours later, Kelly found himself sitting in an interview room, telling the world just what it was like to pitch one of the most dominant games in recent World Series history.
Kelly overwhelmed the Texas Rangers’ powerful offense, leading the D-backs to a 9-1 rout, evening the World Series at 1-game apiece as the series heads to Phoenix for Game 3 on Monday at Chase Field.
“I definitely had visions and images,’’ Kelly said, “about me sitting on this podium for sure.’’
Kelly, one of the best-kept secrets in baseball, retired the first 11 batters, the last seven batters he faced, and wound up yielding just three hits in seven innings, striking out nine without issuing a walk.
It was exactly what he dreamt of when he was pitching four years in Korea, trying to get noticed, praying that one day someone would give him a shot.
“I don't think anybody can predict being able to sit here and pitch in the World Series,’’ said Kelly, who went 12-8 with a 3.29 ERA this season. “There's a lot of things that need to go right. Got to be at the right place, at the right time, and obviously have the right team around you.’’
Just think, a year ago Kelly was sitting in the stands at the World Series, taking his brother, Reid, to Game 4 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, wondering if he would ever be on that stage.
Now, here he is, rescuing the Diamondbacks after their gut-wrenching loss in Game 1, pulling them within three victories of one of the most improbable World Series championships in baseball history.
Then again, Kelly, 35, is one of the most unlikely pitching heroes who has ever appeared in the Fall Classic.
This is a guy who grew up in Phoenix, couldn’t get a college scholarship offer out of high school, went to a junior college, was drafted in the eighth round out of Arizona State, spent five years going nowhere in the Tampa Bay Rays’ minor-league system, headed to Korea for a four-year tour with the SK Wyverns, got signed by the Diamondbacks in 2019, and now is trying to lead the franchise where they haven’t gone since the days of Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling.
“I think going over to Korea as a 26-year-old,’’ Kelly said, “is way scarier than pitching in the big leagues or even in the World Series, to be honest with you. There was just so many unknowns at that age. Obviously with my baseball career, the choice to go over there, the culture, leaving my family, I think that was the biggest pressure.
“At this point in my career, nothing is going to shock me. I'm just trying to enjoy it as much as I can, and not make anything bigger than it needs to be.’’
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Well, if anyone was shocked, or at least quite surprised, it may have been the crowd of 42,500 at Globe Life Field, who were unaware of Kelly. The only time he ever faced the Rangers was back on July 28, 2020, when there were no fans permitted in the park with the pandemic. He had nearly an identical outing to Saturday, going 7 ⅔ innings, yielding one run, three this, one walk while striking out seven.
“He’s the most under-the-radar starting pitcher in baseball,’’ said D-backs ace Zac Gallen, “which I think is going to be tough for him to do now. I think he’s definitely got that subconscious chip on his shoulder. He wants to prove to you that he’s better than people are giving him credit for.’’
Certainly, the Rangers are believers after being shut down. Kelly, mixing in his four-seam fastball, changeup, cutter, sinker and a few curveballs, made the Rangers look clueless. They only hit one ball out of the infield the first three innings. He didn’t give up a hit until Evan Carter’s soft single in the fourth. They scored their lone run on Mitch Garver’s leadoff homer in the fifth. And he finished the game by striking out five of the last six batters.
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“It’s up there as far as the [best] performances I’ve seen,’’ said third baseman Evan Longoria, 38, the only player on the team older than Kelly. “He was as electric as I’ve seen. I mean, his pitches were moving everywhere. He was executing pretty much everything where he wanted all night.
“When you watch him pitch, his stuff isn’t overpowering. He’s not throwing 100-mph. But just the ability to execute four-plus pitches to every part of the plate had them off-balance…When he can execute his changeup for strikes, and move it below the zone, he’s as tough as anybody in the league.’’
And, really, as confident. The D-backs players will tell you that Kelly is one of the fiercest competitors in the game, a little throw-back to Jack Morris. You want to tell him he’s out of the game, you better duck for cover.
“I don’t think you can pitch as well as he does without having that mentality,’’ Longoria said. “Stuff and game-planning and preparation will get you only so far. When you get into big spots in big games, you have to have some sort of extra gear where you can dig deep, fight. That’s what he showed tonight.’’
Who wouldn’t want a pitcher to tell his manager in the second inning that he’s got this game, simply waiting for his team to score runs, and isn’t about to come out of the game until he’s good and ready?
“I'm confident that I can get people out,’’ Kelly said. “I feel like I've shown myself enough over the last five years that if I execute pitches, I can get good hitters out.’’
Nervous?
Not one bit.
“I think the pinching moment honestly came before the game,’’ Kelly said. “Just sitting there thinking about what I was about to do, where I am, and the stage that I'm on, I think was more the realization for me. The fact that I was preparing to pitch Game 2 of the World Series, I think that was probably more of the "Oh [expletive] moment or whatever you want to call it.’’
It was a game the D-backs desperately needed after having a two-run lead with one out in the ninth in Game 1, losing on a walk-off homer in the 11th, and walking 10 batters. The pain was completely forgotten by the time they boarded the team plane Saturday night to Phoenix.
“He takes things personally upon himself to get better every single start,’’ D-backs manager Torey Lovullo says. “He's aware. He's present. …He's really stepped on it, and gotten even better, which is not surprising to me because that's who he is at his core.
“He wants the biggest moment, the biggest stage, to show what he's capable of doing.’’
Kelly did just that Saturday night, and if necessary, will prove it again in five days.
“All I know,’’ said Gallen, who lockers next to Kelly in the D-backs clubhouse during the regular season, “is that he’s prepared for the biggest stage in baseball.
“He’s built for this moment.’’
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Diamondbacks' Merrill Kelly has coming out party in World Series win
