Merrill Kelly (35, Arizona Diamondbacks), who writes a successful reverse export from the KBO League, is emerging as a candidate for the ‘Cy Young Award’ given to the best pitcher in the major leagues.
Kelly started on the 20th (Korean time) in an away game against the 2023 Major League Milwaukee Brewers held at American Family Field in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. Kelly, who also lowered his ERA to 2 points (2.90), tied for 1st in the National League (NL) in most wins as of the 22nd, 5th in ERA, 2nd in batting average (0.194), 3rd in WHIP (1.07), quality starts (10 times) ), and is recording the highest grades in the league in various indicators, such as a tie for third place.
Kelly scored 89.0 points in the Cy Young Predictor (CYP) of the American sports media ‘ESPN’, ranking first in the NL. Cincinnati Reds finisher Alexis Diaz (86.8 points, 2nd place), teammate Jack Gallon (85.1 points, 3rd place), Chicago Cubs ace Marcus Stroman (83.7 points, 4th place), LA Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw (77.2 points, 6th place), who is the NL leader in most wins and ERA, and Kelly won the Cy Young Award. It is at the top of the prediction rankings.
CYP is a Cy Young Award prediction system devised by Bill James, the founder of sabermetrics, and baseball columnist Rob Nair, and calculates it by putting innings, earned runs, strikeouts, shutouts, wins, losses, saves, and team rankings as variables. The fact that Kelly ranked first proves that she is recording top-notch numbers in various parameters. Of course, the CYP rankings do not necessarily coincide with the final Cy Young awards. However, at this point, it is clear that he has emerged as a strong candidate for the Cy Young Award.
Kelly is considered a representative success case of reverse export from the KBO League. Kelly, who challenged the Korean stage wearing a SK Wyverns (now SSG Landers) uniform, recorded an average ERA of 4.13 with 11 wins and 10 losses in 30 games in 2015, making a successful soft landing in the KBO league. In 2016, Kelly, who played 200⅓ innings in 31 games and had an average ERA of 3.68 with 9 wins and 8 losses, had a career high season with a ERA of 3.60 and 189 strikeouts in 30 games in 2017, which was his third year. sent. In 2018, he played 28 games 12-7 with an average ERA of 4.09, and contributed to SK’s championship in the Korean Series with 2 wins and an average ERA of 2.19.
After the 2018 season, Kelly signed a 2+2 year contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks and returned to the United States. In 2020, which was a shortened season, Kelly, who was on a winning streak with a 2.59 ERA in 5 games, 3 wins and 2 losses, ended the season early due to a shoulder injury, but the club exercised an option and was given another opportunity for two years. Kelly, who had slightly slowed down with an average ERA of 4.44 with 7 wins and 11 losses in 27 games in 2021, played the role of the team’s practical ace with 13 wins and 8 losses with an ERA of 3.37 in 33 games last year.
Due to his outstanding performance in the 2022 season, Kelly enjoyed the joy of being selected for the 2023 World Baseball Classic (WBC) US team. And he is being mentioned as a Cy Young Award contender for his best performance this season, which marked his 5th year in the major leagues.먹튀검증
Even when he challenged the Korean stage, Kelly was an obscure prospect in his late 20s who had not yet stepped on the major league stage. However, with rich experience as a starting pitcher in the KBO league, Kelly succeeded in going straight to the big leagues, achieving double-digit victories in two seasons, gaining experience with the WBC U.S. national team, and now looking forward to winning the first Cy Young Award in his career.