Arizona Diamondbacks Merrill Kelly (35) continues to write the KBO league reverse export myth.
Her Kelly is a prime example of her ‘reverse export’ success, using her performance in the KBO league as her stepping stone to success in the major leagues as well. Kelly, who played only in the minor leagues before coming to the KBO league, joined SK (currently SSG) in 2015 and played 48-32 with an average ERA of 3.86 in 119 games (729⅔innings) over four years.
Kelly, who showed her growth in Korea, signed a contract with Arizona after the 2018 season and stepped on the major league stage of her dreams. Kelly’s performance continued in her major league career, where she went 39-38 with a 3.88 earned run average in 104 career games (612⅓ innings).
Kelly is also active this season with a 2.75 earned run average of 3 wins and 3 losses in 7 games (39⅓ innings). In particular, against Washington on the 6th (Korean time), he showed the best pitching of the season, recording a victory with 4 hits (1 home run), 1 walk, 10 strikeouts and 1 run in 7 innings. On the team, he is the only team with ace Zack Gallen to exceed regulation innings, and is 2nd in wins, 2nd in earned run average, and 2nd in strikeouts.
What is surprising is that Kelly was not a very fast pitcher in Korea either. Kelly’s four-seam average velocity this season is just 92.0 miles per hour (148.1 km/h). His best speed was 94.6 miles (152.2 km). On the other hand, his major league four-seam average velocity is 93.8 miles (151.0 km). Kelly is performing exceptionally with a fastball that falls short of league average velocity.
The secret is a variety of pitches and outstanding control. According to Baseball Savant, an official major league statistics site, Kelly pitched six pitches: four-seam (25.5%), changeup (25.3%), cutter (18.6%), curveball (16.5%), sinker (9.9%), and slider (4.2%). speak It is very difficult for batters to predict Kelly’s pitch because he uses a variety of pitches without any particular reliance. 메이저사이트
In addition, if you look at ‘Location+’, an indicator provided by Fan Graph, an American baseball statistics site, you can see that Kelly is showing outstanding control. Location + is an index that evaluates the result of a pitch only by excluding the physical characteristics of the ball thrown by the pitcher (speed, number of rotations, rotational efficiency, vertical movement, horizontal movement, release point, etc.). On the contrary, there is also an indicator called ‘Stuff+’ that measures the power of the ball by excluding the position of the pitch and considering only the physical characteristics.
Kelly has a career stuff+ of 95, just short of the league average (100). However, Location+ ranked 8th among 43 pitchers who have thrown 500 or more innings from 2019, when they made their big league debut with 104, to this year. This season, he is tied for 18th in the league with a location + 104. Kelly is proving that he doesn’t have to throw hard fastballs if he can throw the ball where it’s hard to hit.
Kelly survived in his own way in the major league, where velocity is getting faster. Fans are interested in whether the representative of the KBO League reverse export myth can show a good figure in the future.