2019 ERA 2.55→2020 ERA 3.32→2021 ERA 3.15→2022 ERA 2.54→2023 ERA 4.66.
This is the five-year ERA of longtime LG Twins pitcher Casey Kelly. Kelly, who had a 2.89 career ERA until last year, has had a roller coaster season this year, with a 4.66 ERA. He ranks 20th out of 21 pitchers who have pitched at least one inning.
LG became the first team to reach the 60-win plateau for the season with an 8-4 come-from-behind victory over Kiwoom at Jamsil Stadium on April 12. They have six games in hand over second-place SSG. Teams that reach 60 wins have a 75.8 percent chance of winning the regular season (25 of 33). They have a 60.6% chance of winning the Korean Series (20 of 33).
The biggest concern for LG, which is trying to win its first Korean Series title in 29 years since 1994, is the struggles of Kelly, last year’s Most Valuable Player.
In his last start against Jamsil Kiwoom on April 11, Kelly gave up three runs on five hits and three walks with five strikeouts in five innings. Kelly, who is known for his ups and downs with one good game and one bad game, allowed only one hit and one walk and was scoreless until the fifth inning.
But in the sixth inning, with a 3-0 lead, he got into a bases-loaded jam with a straight bunt-hit-straight bunt. After the first walk, the pitching coach visited the mound and went down, but the sudden pitching difficulties continued. He gave up a single to Kim Hye-sung and was removed with the bases loaded.
“I was late because the bullpen was not ready for the next pitcher,” said Yeom Kyung-yup. He tried to bring up Kim Jin-sung after Kim Hye-sung, but he wasn’t ready. Kim tied the game at 3-3 with a bases-loaded walk and a sacrifice fly, and Kelly scored three runs.
“You can’t say she was good until the fifth inning,” Yeom said of Kelly, reviewing the game from 12 days earlier. He then pointed out Kelly’s problem. It was the off-speed pitches.
“The most important thing is the off-speed pitches. You have to have a changeup that drops like a bell, like a changeup or a forkball, but the value of the changeup has dropped,” he said.
“As I said before, there are a lot of pitches, and when they break, they break all at once. We’re going to talk about off-speed pitches one more time. It’s not just this season, there’s the postseason, which is more important, and then there’s next season, so if we don’t make it, we’re just going to keep repeating the process. I’m going to have to explain that one more time.”
After leading the league in wins and fifth in ERA last year, Kelly has seen a dramatic increase in his changeup this year. His curveball, his primary weapon, has also become more relied upon, and hitters have gotten used to it in the fifth year. 스포츠토토
With the addition of Choi Won-tae in a trade, LG’s homegrown starting rotation, one of the league’s strongest bats, and a steady stream of returning injured players, they don’t have many weaknesses. The team is set to dominate the regular season and hold onto first place.
To win the Korean Series, they’ll need a solid 1-3 starters in the short-term. Kelly, Plutko, and Choi Won-tae are the 1-3 starters that need to be trusted.