'Return save' Kelly: "Can I stand on the MLB mound? Even I doubt it"
'Return save' Kelly: "Can I stand on the MLB mound? Even I doubt it"
Blog Article
The first person to tell Casey Kelly (34, Cincinnati Reds) about his return to Major League Baseball (MLB) was his father, Pat Kelly (68).
After earning his first career MLB save in his return game to the major leagues on the 25th (Korean time), his son Kelly recalled in an interview with the Associated Press, "After my dad told me, 'Go up to MLB,' we stared at each other for a few seconds. My dad started crying, and I started crying, too."
After his tearful return to MLB, Kelly smiled brightly.
Kelly pitched a perfect game in the bottom of the 7th inning with the team leading 10-2 in the 2024 MLB Pittsburgh Pirates away game held at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, and did not allow a single runner to reach base for 3 innings.
Kelly, who was responsible for the final three innings, earned his first MLB save.
After the game, Kelly shared a story about his father, who manages the Louisville Bats, a Triple-A minor league team affiliated with the Red Sox.
After the game on Friday, local time, at the stadium, father Kelly asked his son Kelly, "What are you going to do on Saturday (Sunday the 25th in Korean time)?"
His son Kelly, who was a Louisville player at the time, replied, "I think he'll start (in a Triple-A game)."
“Get ready quickly and go to Pittsburgh,” said Father Kelly.
Pat Kelly, a Triple-A manager and father, broke the news of his son Kelly's call-up to the big leagues.
His son Kelly moved from Louisville, Kentucky to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Cincinnati, which had a heavy burden on its bullpen, ordered Kelly to 토토 'stand by the bullpen' on the 25th, and put Kelly on the mound in the bottom of the 7th inning when the team was leading 10-2.
"My life just went up in smoke in a month," said Kelly, who earned the save after pitching three perfect innings, recalling his journey from Korea to the United States.
Kelly, who began his professional career as a first-round draft pick by the Boston Red Sox in 2008, made his major league debut in 2012 wearing a San Diego Padres uniform.
However, Kelly only appeared on the major league mound for four seasons between 2012 and 2018, moving between several teams, and his career record was just 2 wins, 11 losses, and an ERA of 5.46.
After wearing the LG Twins uniform of the Korean Professional Baseball in 2019, he became the representative foreign pitcher of the KBO League, playing as an ace.
In particular, in last year's Korean Series, he went 1-0 with an ERA of 1.59 in 2 games, giving LG its first championship trophy in 29 years.
This season, he failed to show his former form with 5 wins, 8 losses, and an ERA of 4.51, and eventually said goodbye to LG and returned to the United States.
His record at LG is 73 wins, 46 losses, and an ERA of 3.25 in 163 games over 6 seasons.
Kelly, who left LG on July 20, signed a minor league contract with Cincinnati on August 8 and joined Louisville, where his father, Pat Kelly, was the manager.
Kelly, who had a 4.50 ERA (8 innings, 8 hits, 4 runs) in two games with Louisville, was promoted to the major leagues on the 25th.
On the day of his call-up, Kelly took the mound in the major leagues for the first time in nearly six years, since September 27, 2018, when he was with the San Francisco Giants, and earned his first career save in the MLB.
On this day, Kelly pitched three innings with 38 pitches.
His top speed was 149 km/h, which wasn't very fast, but he dominated the Pittsburgh batters by throwing a variety of pitches including a fastball, slider, changeup, curve, cutter, and sinker.