LG Twins ace Casey Kelly collapsed. I couldn’t even fill it up twice. It’s a shocking moment.
Kelly started the game against Hanwha Eagles in the ‘2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League’ held at Hanwha Life Insurance Eagles Park in Daejeon on the 11th and only allowed 6 runs with 4 hits, 3 walks and 1 strikeout in 1⅔ innings.안전놀이터
He gave up a lot of runs from the first inning and showed an unusual appearance. In the process of conceding, there was a sasagu. Kelly, who struggled for the first time, eventually collapsed. It is a minimum inning substitution in one game since his KBO League debut. The previous record was 6 runs and 5 earned runs in 2 innings against NC on May 10, 2020.
In fact, there were signs. Kelly, who wore a striped uniform and reigned as an ace since 2019, was anxious from the start this year. In the opening game, he was shaken by giving up 6 runs in 5⅓ innings against KT. In the end, it was only 1 win and 2 losses in 6 games in April. Still, the atmosphere turned around with five consecutive quality starts in May. The first game of June also ended with 5 innings and 1 run. Kelly’s ERA rose to 4.70 thanks to the large number of runs that day.
It went up with a 4-0 lead, but it was a shocking result to dedicate a comeback. Kelly sweated as he let out his first seven batters in a row. He got a walk from lead batter Lee Jin-young and a hit from Kim Tae-yeon. He conceded two RBIs and a double to Roh Si-hwan.
Catcher Park Dong-won climbed the mound and calmed down Kelly, but it seemed that he could not get a zero point. Kelly sent Chae Eun-seong out with a ball that fit the body, and gave a right-handed hit to “natural enemy” Kim In-hwan, who was weak with a batting average of 0.529 in the first and second bases. At the bases loaded, Jung Eun-won allowed a push-off walk and was chased by 1 point, and Moon Hyun-bin hit a right-handed hit and tied the score.
Kelly caught Park Sang-eon with a floating ball in right field and got his first out count after 8 batters. However, third base runner Kim In-hwan scored and allowed a 4-5 comeback. After striking out Lee Do-yoon and blocking Lee Jin-young with a straight hit from shortstop, he managed to finish the first inning after throwing 42 pitches.
The batting line exploded again in the second inning, giving the team a 5-point lead at 10-5. But Kelly broke down on her own this time too. After two outs at the end of the second inning, Chae Eun-seong gave a ball that hit the body for two consecutive at-bats, and Kim In-hwan was sent out for a walk.
The LG bench moved. Patience was up to here. I lowered Kelly and raised Yoo Young-chan. Yoo Yeong-chan allowed Jung Eun-won to hit at the right time, increasing Kelly’s run to 6 points.
Of the 54 pitches, 27, just half of them, were balls. Although the strike zone was narrow that day, it was clear that the pitch was not like Kelly’s. He threw 29 fastballs with a maximum speed of 149 km, 2 two-seams, 14 curveballs, 8 sliders, and 1 changeup, but it was not enough.
Kelly holds one record in the KBO League: five or more innings pitched in consecutive games. He threw more than 5 innings in 75 consecutive games from before Jamsil Kiwoom on May 16, 2020 to Incheon SSG on July 28, 2022. For Kelly, 5 innings was the default.
In addition to her innings-fighting power, Kelly, who was flying wild last year by recording the most wins last year, is a bit different this year. As for LG, I just hope that Kelly’s sluggishness will not continue.