“5 years of success with fastball command, increasing splitter rate”
LG Twins foreign-born pitcher Casey Kelly picked up his second win of the season in 44 days.
Kelly started the game against NC on Saturday at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul, South Korea, and pitched six innings of five-hit, one-strikeout, three-run quality ball to earn the win. LG went on to win 6-3.
Kelly hadn’t won in a month and a half since April 12 against Doosan. He had lost five straight starts. His ERA has hovered around five runs. He regained confidence in his fastball command and increased the percentage of his curveball and splitter (forkball), which helped him rebound.
After allowing just one hit through three innings, Kelly faltered in the fourth. Back-to-back singles to Ho-Cheol Seo and Gun-Woo Park put runners on first and third with no outs, and Davidson’s sacrifice fly to left field allowed a run to score.
A wild pitch moved the runner to second, and the runner advanced to third when the catcher’s throw to the outfield was dropped by center fielder Park Hae-min. With two outs, Kim Sung-wook doubled and Kim Joo-won singled to center field, allowing three runs to score.
LG answered with two runs in the bottom of the third, and with the bases loaded in the top of the fourth, Park Hae-min hit a three-run triple to make it a 6-3 game. Kelly closed out the game with back-to-back strikeouts in the fifth and sixth innings.
“It feels great to get the win, and I feel like I helped the team get a win for the first time in a long time, so I’m very happy with that,” Kelly said after the game.
“I thought our girls played a really good game this week. Offensively, defensively, and the pitchers that came out, they all did their job, so I thought we could win, and it took me a while to get my second win, but I think they played well and I feel like I helped them do that, so it feels great.”
Kelly has struggled since opening with a five-run ERA. With another foreign pitcher, Enns, also struggling, LG is preparing to replace him with a foreign pitcher. Was there any pressure?
“I think coming into my sixth season, you’re going to have good times and bad times. “I’ve had some tough games lately, but the season is long and I think there’s plenty of room for me to rebound, so I just have to stay focused every day and do the best I can and I think I’ll be where I want to be. I don’t feel that pressure, I just focus on doing the best I can every day.
“I just focused on throwing strikes and being aggressive, working on my fastball command, my offspeed pitches. When I had a tough game, I think I 스포츠토토 made it harder on myself by throwing a lot of changeups. I just kept it simple and focused on what I do best, which is fastball control, being aggressive and throwing strikes, and I think it worked out.”
Yoon has asked Kelly to throw more of his curveball and the forkball he added late last year, rather than his off-speed fastball.
“I think he’s got a point, but when I think about what I’ve had success with in my five years in the KBO, I think I’ve had a lot of success with my fastball, and I think I’ve had a lot of success with that, and I think I’ve had success with my command and control of my pitches, using them all over the place, up and down and left and right, so I think it helps me to focus a little bit more on what I can do well,” Kelly said.
Kelly threw 89 pitches on the day, including 40 fastballs, three two-seamers, 20 curves, 12 sliders, 10 forks, and four changeups. He threw more forks than he has in the past, along with his decisive curveball.
“My fastball to curve ratio is pretty much the same right now, and I’ve been upping the splitter (forkball) a little bit more. “I’m going to stick with the curveball because it’s my best pitch, and I’m going to use the splitter when the situation calls for it,” Kelly said.