“I struggled in the first half because of my curveball and slider”
LG Twins right-hander Casey Kelly earned his seventh win of the season after throwing 101 pitches in seven innings, striking out eight, walking three and giving up two runs (two earned) in the eighth game of the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League against the Doosan Bears at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul.
Kelly previously played in the KBO with LG prior to the 2019 season. In his rookie season, Kelly quickly established himself as the “ace” with a 14-12 record and 2.55 ERA in 29 appearances, and continued his steady form the following year with a 15-7 record and 3.32 ERA in 28 games. Kelly went 13-8 with a 3.15 ERA in 2021 and had a “career-high” season last year, going 16-4 with a 2.54 ERA.
With a whopping 58 wins, including four consecutive years of double-digit wins, Kelly looked to be on track to continue his run with LG this year. However, once the regular season began, Kelly looked a little different than we’ve come to know her. Kelly went 1-2 with a 5.66 ERA in six starts in April, including a 5⅓-inning, six-run debacle against the KT Wiz in his first start of the season.
Amidst the concerns, Kelly didn’t go down without a fight. Kelly seemed to rebound in May, going 4-1 with a 2.73 ERA in five starts, including three consecutive Quality Starts+ (seven innings or less) and two more Quality Starts (six innings or less). In June, however, he was unable to accumulate wins due to a combination of bad luck and lack of support from his offense.
The disappointing form continued into his first start of the second half. Kelly suffered his sixth loss of the season on July 21 against the SSG Landers, giving up five runs (five earned) on six hits (one home run) with two walks and four strikeouts in five innings. Kelly’s repeated inconsistency has led to some debate among LG fans about his replacement.
For now, Kelly allayed fears by tasting victory for the first time in 53 days against Doosan on Nov. 28. As important as the win was, it was the quality of the pitching. Kelly shut down the Doosan bats with a mix of two-seamers (19), sliders (19), and changeups (5), led by a fastball (29) that topped out at 150 mph and averaged 147 mph and his signature curve (29).
Kelly totaled three strikeouts in his seven innings of work. She worked out of a jam in the first inning with runners on first and second to minimize the damage to one run, and then worked out of a jam with runners on first and second in the fourth. 스포츠토토 In the seventh inning, a series of unfortunate defensive plays that weren’t recorded as errors led to a less-than-flawless trip down the mound, but it was certainly reminiscent of his “ace” days.
In the meantime, Kelida has been trying to find a breakthrough, meeting with manager Yoon Kyung-yup and general manager Cha Myung-seok to get out of his slump. He said, “Believing in myself is the most important thing, and the most