Can LG Twins’ foreign ace, Casey Kelly, prepare a stepping stone to escape from sluggishness?
Kelly,메이저사이트 who has been wearing LG’s pinstripe uniform since the 2019 season, is a right-handed pitcher who can use various breaking balls such as curveballs, sliders, and changeups along with a powerful fastball. Until last year, he had a good record of 58 wins and 31 losses with an average ERA of 2.89 in 114 KBO League games (697 innings), and in the 2022 season, he won 16 wins and became the king of many wins.
But Kelly hasn’t played his usual form this season. He had a poor record of 1 win and 2 losses in the 6 games he played during the month of April. His earned run average was also an unfamiliar figure of 5.56.
Fortunately, Kelly seemed to be succeeding in rebounding by achieving quality starts (less than 3 earned runs in 6 innings as a starter) in all 5 games she started in May. However, on the 13th, he had the worst fight against Hanwha Eagles in Daejeon (13-7 LG won). His final performance was 1.2 innings, 4 hits, 5 walks, 1 strikeout and 6 runs. 1.2 innings was Kelly’s minimum innings in a game after entering the KBO league.
What is the reason Kelly, who is synonymous with consistency, shows such severe ups and downs? Head coach Yeom Kyung-yeop, LG coach, cited ‘shaking control’ as the cause.
Director Yeom, whom I met recently, said, “(Kelly) has been having a hard time with the ball this year. He was not an overpowering pitcher originally. He diagnosed with a lot of mistakes, so the right hit is coming out.”
At the same time, director Yeom said, “Now Kelly is tired and it is not the time for that. It’s not a problem with stamina at all, it’s a (problem) with balance and control. On that day (against Daejeon Hanwha on the 13th), the balance was not very good. He tried to keep it on the mound in the second inning, but he couldn’t control himself. I got off because I didn’t think I could just leave it alone,” he explained.
LG, which aims to win the Korean Series this year, recently faced the task of building a stable starting lineup. Lefty Kim Yoon-sik (3-4, ERA 5.29), who had a lot of ups and downs, went down to the 2nd team on the 9th, and Lee Min-ho (2 losses, ERA 3.95), who returned from injury, is also not showing as much activity as expected.
At least Lim Chan-gyu (5-1, 3.10 ERA) is doing his part, but ‘Ace’ Kelly is in dire need of a revival to continue a stable season race.
Director Yeom Kyung-yeop also said, “The most important thing is that Kelly needs to find stability. Lim Chan-gyu is now stable, so if Kelly finds stability, he can breathe. When Kelly falters, the whole team falters.”
Will Kelly be able to succeed in rebounding after solving the homework called ‘stabilization of control’ ordered by the command tower? With a lot of interest, he is scheduled to start against the Doosan Bears in Jamsil on the 17th due to rotation.