He forced them to focus on his changeup and ended up throwing only eight pitches in the game, but it was effective.
On April 24, Kelly started against Lotte in Jamsil and pitched six innings of three-hit ball with one walk and five strikeouts to improve to 8-7 on the season.토스카지노 It was his first no-hitter of the season and his first in 27 games since Sept. 13 last year against Doosan (six innings). LG capitalized on Kelly’s performance to win 3-1. They remain 7.5 games behind the second-place KT Wiz, and their first-place magic number is down to 32.
Kelly’s changeup was the talk of the town before the game. “You don’t have to take (the changeup) out, but it has to be effective,” manager Yoon Kyung-yeop said of Kelly’s changeup before the 24th game. It’s important to keep the changeup alive. He said he needs to change his grip or change his throwing style. “I told him, ‘You can learn from anyone, you can do anything, so let’s change it,'” he said, noting that his changeup was worse than last year.
“For my own development, my changeup should be more than 10 percent of my pitches. It needs to have a different velocity (than my fastball) and it needs to have more movement.” With the news that Kelly is already working on a new grip, it’s no surprise that interest in his changeup is growing.
According to LG Power Analytics, Kelly threw a total of 85 pitches in the sixth inning. His fastball accounted for the most pitches (39), followed by his curve (23) and cutter (15). The changeup in question was thrown eight times. That’s close to the 10% threshold set by manager Yoon Kyung-yup, but it’s still only the fourth pitch in his arsenal.
Another interesting point is the evaluation of catcher Park Dong-won. He didn’t see a dramatic change in Kelly’s grip on his changeup. Instead, he said, “Every game is different, but today was a good day for it.” Of course, the grip isn’t the only factor that determines the ball’s trajectory. We can assume that Kelly used different methods to create different trajectories.
Kelly and Park Dong-won ⓒKyuk Hye-mi Reporter
Kelly ⓒKyuk Hye-mi Reporter
The results were even better. Before that game, Kelly’s batting average with his changeup was 0.377, according to Statiz. Against Lotte on the 24th, she didn’t have a single hit when she threw her changeup. However, his velocity wasn’t much different. It was between 133 and 137 kilometers per hour. His overall pitches were among the best of the season.
In the first inning, he didn’t throw any changeups. Lotte batted left-handed hitters Ahn Kwon-soo, Kim Min-seok, and Lee Jeong-hoon in the top three spots, but Kelly and Park Dong-won didn’t throw any changeups, sticking to fastballs, sliders, and curves to get through the first inning. Kelly threw his first changeup in the top of the second inning to right-handed hitter Yoon Dong-hee. It was a three- and four-pitch changeup that resulted in a fly ball to center field.
In the third inning, he used his changeup for strikes again. With the leadoff batter Noh Jin-hyuk on a 2-1 count, he induced a wild swing with a four-pitch changeup. Two batters later, he threw a changeup to Ahn Kwon-soo for a strike.
In the fourth inning, he induced a foul with a two-pitch changeup after a fastball. When he faced Noh again in the fifth, he tried a changeup after two strikes, but it was fouled off. In any case, the changeup never became a pitch. Even when it was an in-play pitch, it was easy to catch.
After the game, Kelly said, “I was confident throwing my changeup in the count and it worked. I was aggressive and competed with the hitters, and I think that’s what helped me have a good game.”
“Every time I go out there, I go out there with the goal of helping the team win. I’m happy that the team won today. The batsmen scored runs and made it easy for me. I wanted to contribute to the win and I’m glad I was able to do that.” “The team is playing really well. Every time I go out, I want to help the team win.”
Head coach Yeom Kyung-yup ⓒReporter Kwak Hye-mi