Meryl Kelly (35), the main character of the ‘KBO League reverse export myth’, won 3 wins in the season.
Kelly started on the 6th메이저놀이터 (Korean time) in the home game against the Washington Nationals in the ‘2023 Major League Baseball’ held at Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona, USA. On this day, he recorded 4 hits, 1 home run, 1 walk, 10 strikeouts and 1 run in 7 innings. He showed pitching quality start plus (pitching less than 3 earned runs in 7 starting innings).
Arizona beat Washington 3-1 with Kelly’s strong pitching. Arizona, which ran for two consecutive wins, had a season record of 18 wins and 14 losses. Kelly also harvested 3 wins (3 losses) in the season. His earned run average dropped to 2.75.
On this day, Kelly: Alex Cole (left fielder) – Luis Garcia (2nd baseman) – Keibert Lewis (catcher) – Joey Menes (DH) – Jamer Candelario (3rd baseman) – Dominic Smith (1st baseman) – Lane Thomas ( Right fielder) – CJ Abrams (shortstop) – Victor Robles (center fielder) against the Washington batting line.
Although he hit a home run in the first inning, Kelly struck out all the out counts. He struck out three pitches from lead batter Cole and seemed to signal a good start. However, he was hit by a left-handed solo shot by Garcia, the follow-up hitter. It was a situation that could have been shaken, but Kelly calmly continued pitching and finished the inning with both Ruiz and Menesis striking out.
In the second episode, there was a crisis. After one out, Kelly got a walk from Smith and a right-handed hit from Thomas and was driven to first and second base. He grounded Abrams, but failed to stop the extra base. However, Robles struck out and ended the inning without a run.
Kelly made the first three-way inning of the game in the third inning. He struck out a third base grounder to Cole, a shortstop grounder to Garcia, and an eight-pitch battle with Ruiz.
He continued his good pitching in the 4th inning as well. Kelly caught the lead batter Menesis on a first baseman foul fly. He got a right-handed hit by Candelario, but returned to the dugout after disposing of Smith for a double hit.
Kelly got all three batters out in the 5th inning. He only allowed a hit to right-center to Garcia after a run in the 6th inning. He struck out all subsequent batters.
In the 7th inning, Kelly, who was on the mound, continued his unstoppable pitching. He struck out three pitches of lead batter Candelario to boost his momentum. He grounded the follow-up hitter, Smith, to first base, and struck out Thomas.
Kelly finished his job preserving a 3-1 lead, passing the ball to Miguel Castro in the eighth. Kelly’s total pitches that day were 92.
Meanwhile, Kelly joined SK Wyverns (now SSG Landers) in 2015 and played on the Korean stage for four years. He recorded an average ERA of 3.86 in 119 KBO league games, 48 wins and 32 losses, and returned to the major leagues after signing a contract with Arizona in 2019.