You threw so well until the 5th inning! Misunderstanding of the number of checks + defensive bad pitches, Kelly's 69th place and a steel plate, still qualified as the third starter

Aug 03, 2025

You threw so well until the 5th inning! Misunderstanding of the number of checks defensive bad pitches, Kelly's 69th place and a steel plate, still qualified as the third starter
Texas Rangers Merrill Kelly pitches in the bottom of the first inning against the Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Park on the 3rd (Korea time). ImagesYonhap News



Merrill Kelly, who wore a Texas Rangers uniform as a 'winning contractor', pitched well in his first transfer appearance, signaling his performance for the rest of the season.

Kelly started the away game against the Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Park on the 3rd (Korea time) and pitched four hits and two runs in five ⅔ innings, laying the groundwork for a 6-4 overtime victory.

He struck out six without giving up a walk, and his fastball velocity was up to 93.4 miles, averaging 91.4 miles, and Sincker was up to 93.6 miles and averaging 92.2 miles. A similar level of speed as in Arizona. The change-up that threw 27 was excellent.




However, he continued his near-perfect pitching and lost his first run in the sixth inning due to the illusion of the number of checks, and then made a defensive error to give up a 2-2 tie and was replaced.

Texas acquired Kelly through a trade with the Arizona Diamondbacks minutes before the trade deadline on the 1st. Texas gave up left-handers Cole Grake and Mitch Bratt and right-hander David Haggerman, who were the top prospects in the team at the time.

There is one thing to expect from Kelly. He wants to help the team's rotation, which is competing for a wild card in the race with two months left.




Texas is the most stable team in the Major League Baseball. Until this day, he has a starting ERA of 3.19, which is by far the first place among the 30 teams. Jacob deGrom (10-3, 123 ⅔ innings, 2.55), Nathan Ivaldi (9-3, 103 innings, 1.49), and Patrick Corbin (6-7, 109 ⅔ innings, 3.78) are not indifferent 1-3 starters, and Jack Leiter is also a five-star starter with a 7-6 record and 4.10 ERA in 19 games.

You threw so well until the 5th inning! Misunderstanding of the number of checks defensive bad pitches, Kelly's 69th place and a steel plate, still qualified as the third starter
Merrill Kelly's first appearance since moving to the Texas Rangers. AP Yonhap News
Kelly will become an FA after this season, so Texas can use three months at the most. The reason why Kelly was brought in even by giving up three promising pitchers is that he believes he will pitch well in the postseason beyond the second half of the race.

Kelly once pitched well against Texas in the 2023 World Series. He started Game 2 of the World Series at Globe Life Field on October 29 of that year and struck out nine in seven innings, becoming a winning pitcher with three hits and one run. Arizona kneeled down to Texas to finish second with 1-4, but Kelly was nothing short of confirming to the Texas club that he was strong in big games. Kelly pitched 24 innings in four postseason games that year, winning 3-1 with a 2.25 ERA.




Texas, which did not forget Kelly at the time, brought him at a high price. Texas is doing everything in its power to advance to the playoffs. Texas, which recorded 58 wins and 54 losses with the victory, maintained its third place in the AL West and fourth place in the wild card. It is one game ahead of the third-place Seattle Mariners (59-53), and one game ahead of the fifth-place Cleveland Guardians (56-54). It's a thin ice race.

Considering that deGrom has been injured for the past two to three years, there are limits to pitching innings, Kelly may have to play an important role in fall baseball.

Kelly, who continued his near-perfect pitching with one hit and no run until the fifth inning, fell into a sudden turmoil in the sixth inning with a 2-0 lead and allowed a tie. Kelly allowed a ground-rule double to lead JP Crawford to one-bound the right fence and a heavy hit to Randy Arozarena after one out, driving him to the first and third bases.

Then, he checked the first baseman three times at Cal Raleigh's at-bat, and was caught in a disengagement violation, and the runners advanced one by one and lost their first run.

You threw so well until the 5th inning! Misunderstanding of the number of checks defensive bad pitches, Kelly's 69th place and a steel plate, still qualified as the third starter
Maryl Kelly's catch of Josh Naylor's ground ball with two outs and a runner on second in the bottom of the sixth inning and throw it to third base is becoming a high pitch. Photo = MLB.TV Capture
Raleigh struck out and seemed to get out of the woods, but Julio Rodriguez hit a double to right-center to allow a 2-2 tie. It was a pity that right fielder Adolis Garcia made a double when he tried to deal with it on a one-bound basis but missed it back. He then induced Josh Naylor to ground out, but the crisis continued with the first and third bases as his catch and throw to the third base became a high pitch.

In the end, Texas manager Bruce Bochy had no choice but to replace Kelly, who had only 69 pitches. Sean Armstrong, who took the mound, then struck out Auhenio Suarez with a swing and miss and finished the inning without additional runs.

The game went into extra time with a 2-2 tie, and the two teams faced off again 4-4 in the 10th inning of extra time, leading to the 11th inning. In the end, Texas ran away with two successive timely hits by Wyatt Langford and Ezekiel Duran with runners on the first and third bases with no outs in the top of the 11th inning, and stopped the game without allowing a run in the bottom of the 11th inning.

Kelly, who retired without a win or loss, had a 3.22 ERA for the season.





This article was translated by Naver AI translator.