Merrill Kelly Receives Pitcher of the Month Award Plaque

Diamondbacks starter Merrill Kelly had a quizzical look on his face as he approached his locker this morning. Sitting on a chair were two boxes he wasn't expecting. The first one contained an empty wood teakwood display box with a round circle indented in the foam. That was a tip for what was in the second box. Inside was a small metal suitcase, and inside that wrapped in foam and bubble wrap was the round plaque for his pitcher of the month award for July 2022

#Dbacks Starter Merrill Kelly just unpacked his pitcher of the month award from last July

It was a great month and excellent season. Kelly will be pitching for #TeamUSA inthe #WBC pic.twitter.com/Un3qE4GAv6
— Jack Sommers (@shoewizard59) February 25, 2023

Kelly made six starts in July of 2022, going 4-0 with a 1.31 ERA while throwing a league best 41.1 innings. He allowed just 24 hits and walked eight while striking out 33. When asked what receiving the award meant to him, Kelly responded in his usual low key and humble manner and was quick to credit his teammates. Zac Gallen's boxes for the August award were sitting on his chair a few lockers down. The first thing Kelly wanted to talk about was Gallen. (We were not able to catch up with Gallen this morning to discuss his award with him).

"Honestly I had completely forgotten about it until I saw it today. At the time it was definitely special. I think it was even cooler just the fact that Gallen followed it up by getting it the next month. For me it was probably the coolest part to see, just to have two guys on the same team do it back to back months. It was fun to watch."

A little while later, his catcher Carson Kelly walked by and the pitcher waved him over his battery mate to show him the hardware.

"The Catcher obviously plays a big role in pitch calling in the game and the flow of the game. We did a really good job, especially in that month, obviously, staying on the same page. So as much credit goes to him probably as it does to me."

Kelly, who will be pitching for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic has been getting ramped up early for the event. He will leave the Diamondbacks camp soon to report for the event. Kelly is working on a new pitch. While he would not verbally identify what it was, through process of elimination and watching his bullpens he's clearly working to add a slider however. Kelly threw a fastball, cutter, changeup and curve last year.

The Diamondbacks will be relying on Kelly heavily in 2023 along with Gallen to anchor the rotation and provide quality innings. Last year Kelly, who finished the year 13-7 with a 3.37 ERA achieved his goal of getting to 200 innings. That may have come at a bit of price however as he faltered down the stretch in September. He got roughed up in back to back starts against the Dodgers in the middle of the month and then the Giants got to him for 8 runs in 4+ innings in his second to last start. Kelly finished the year on a high note however going six innings and allowed just one run to the Brewers while reaching the 200 innings pitched threshold.

Whether or not the quick ramp up for the WBC has any impacts for Kelly down the road remains to be seen of course. Pitchers who have participated in the past sometimes have issues later in the year. Team USA General Manager Tony Reagins emphasized that working with the teams to keep pitchers on their throwing programs, watching pitch counts, and monitoring health is of paramount concern. But there is no way to account for high intensity, high leverage innings thrown in the international competition when your country's name is across your chest. The WBC is an emotional, turbocharged event that comes with a lot of intensity, and risk.

Kelly, who is 34 this season signed a two year extension worth $18 million for 2023-24 seasons, with a team option for 2025 that would take him through his age 36 season. He's already been arguably the best free agent signing of the Mike Hazen era, giving the team 97 starts and 573 innings pitched with a better than league average 107 ERA+.