“The key point is the changeup.”
The first start of the second half for the first-place LG Twins was Casey Kelida. Instead of Adam Plutko, who went 11-1 with a 2.21 ERA and was the second-best pitcher in the first half, Kelly, who struggled to a 6-5 record and 4.44 ERA, will start against the SSG Landers in Jamsil on April 21.
It’s the first start of the second half of the trust-even-if-you’re-not-performing season. She’s been the ace for the past four years and has dedicated herself to the team.
But it’s a big game for Kelly. This will be her first start since her meeting with manager Yoon Kyung-yup. She needs to show a different side. If he doesn’t perform well, there could be controversy over his substitution.
“We need to see the game,” Yoon said of Kelly on the 20th at Jamsil Stadium, “and the key point is the changeup. It needs to be slower than it is now.” Yim’s diagnosis was that Kelly’s changeup was too fast. “Right now, her changeup is about 135-137 kilometers. He’s making contact because his changeup is fast. I think it would be better if it was around 132 kilometers, about five kilometers slower than it is now.”
“If my changeup is working, my curve is likely to work as well,” Yeom continued, “and since my changeup isn’t working, I’m throwing more curves. Since I’m throwing a lot of curveballs, hitters are seeing a lot of them, so I’m getting better at timing them. I think it will be better if I can lower my changeup strikeout rate to around 2 percent.”
This season, Kelly’s changeup has a 3-for-4.9 K rate. In his last start of the first half, on April 12 against Hanwha, Kelly threw a nine-pitch changeup to Moon Hyun-bin at 2B2 with runners on first and second in the top of the first inning that sailed up the middle for a two-run single to right field, which turned out to be the game-winner in a 2-1 loss. Kelly would take the loss on the day, but he showed some promise later in the day by settling down after giving up two runs in the first inning and throwing a scoreless seventh.
Kelly acknowledged the need to work on his changeup in a meeting with Yoon. “He’s aware of it. He said that his changeup seems to be fast, and he said he would try to work on it.”
Kelly’s goal every year has been to make the Korean Series. In 2021, her son was born in the U.S., but instead of traveling to the U.S., she stayed in Korea to rotate. She felt that her ace shouldn’t be missing for the team to win, so she shook her head and kept pitching, even when the team asked her to go to the United States.
This season, Kelly’s goal is to make it to the Korean Series and win it. To do so, he’ll need to get past this crisis and return to the reliable Kelly he once was. How much has his changeup changed, will it work against SSG hitters, etc. 토토사이트