Merrill Kelly

Bats R Throws R6'2" 202 lbBorn 1988 Houston, USADebut 2019Team TEXDraft 2007 R37 #1112 Baltimore Orioles, Desert Mountain (AZ) HSContract 2 y/$40M (26-27)+28 v opt 2026: $18,000,000

Projections

Season	BF	K%	BB%	HR%	1B%	XBH%	PITCH+
2026	603	21.1	7.0	3.43	19.4	6.66	102.4
2027							102.1
2028							102.1

Projected rates are per plate appearance or batter faced; counting stats scale with projected playing time. Statcast measurements inform these projections as inputs and are reported as measurements, not projected.

Most similar through age 36

His ten closest age-36 comparables averaged 104 PITCH+ the next season; 9 of 10 played. Averages cover only the players who got a next season, which is why the played count matters.

#	Player	Through	PITCH+ then	Next season	Next PA / BF
1	John Lackey	2015	102.5	111.3	748
2	J. A. Happ	2019	100.6	114.1	196
3	Anibal Sanchez	2020	101.9	did not play
4	Lance Lynn	2023	103.1	98.7	511
5	Tim Hudson	2012	107.2	106.9	534
6	Hiroki Kuroda	2011	107.8	102.6	891
7	A. J. Burnett	2013	102.6	92.6	935
8	Jon Lieber	2006	102.9	98.7	342
9	Yu Darvish	2023	108.2	108.3	331
10	Zack Greinke	2020	108.8	102.6	697

Batting

Year	Team	G	PA	R	H	2B	RBI	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	HIT+
2025	TEX	32	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2024	ARI	13	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2023	ARI	30	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2022	ARI	33	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2021	ARI	27	58	1	3	1	1	4	27	0.064	0.137	0.085	0.222	-39.6
2020	ARI	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2019	ARI	32	60	3	1	0	2	2	25	0.019	0.056	0.019	0.075	-88.2
Career		172	118	4	4	1	3	6	52	0.040	0.095	0.051	0.146	-64.3

Pitching

Year	Team	W	L	ERA	G	GS	SV	IP	BF	HR	BB	SO	PITCH+
2027 proj									603				102.1
2026*									564				86.5	98.6	85.1
2025	TEX	12	9	3.52	32	32	0	184.0	748	23	48	167	107.5	100.3	107.8
2024	ARI	5	1	4.03	13	13	0	73.7	300	11	19	63	101.6	101.7	103.3
2023	ARI	12	8	3.29	30	30	0	177.7	722	20	69	187	107.5	100.3	107.7
2022	ARI	13	8	3.37	33	33	0	200.3	804	21	61	177	106.4	101.6	108.0
2021	ARI	7	11	4.44	27	27	0	158.0	667	21	41	130	99.8	99.9	99.8
2020	ARI	3	2	2.59	5	5	0	31.3	125	5	5	29	113.5	98.1	111.5
2019	ARI	13	14	4.42	32	32	0	183.3	777	29	57	158	99.9	99.1	99.0
Career		65	53	3.77	172	172	0	1008.3	4143	130	300	911	104.4		104.7

Statcast

Year	PA	EV	LA	Barrel%	HardHit%	Whiff%	Chase%	xBA	xSLG	xwOBA	Sprint
2021	58	76.4	-3.6	0.0	14.8	37.8	34.4	0.066	0.075	0.113	23.6
2019	60	84.5	-8.8	0.0	9.1	28.8	37.8	0.094	0.113	0.117	24.5

Fielding

Year	Team	Pos	G	Inn	PO	A	E	DP	Fld%	Runs saved
2025	TEX	P	32	184	13	22	3	0	0.921	+0.2
2024	ARI	P	13	74	9	5	2	0	0.875	+0.6
2023	ARI	P	30	178	12	12	2	2	0.923	+0.3
2022	ARI	P	33	200	15	19	1	2	0.971	+1.5
2021	ARI	P	27	158	13	16	0	2	1.000	-0.0
2020	ARI	P	5	31	7	3	0	0	1.000	-0.3
2019	ARI	P	32	183	21	14	4	2	0.897	-0.8

Runs saved covers the Statcast era; for catchers it includes framing.

Minor leagues

Year	Level	Team	Side	PA / BF	Line	AVG / ERA
2026	AAA	Reno Aces	Pit	20	5.0 IP, 10% K	0.00
2014	AAA	Durham Bulls	Pit	487	114.0 IP, 22% K	2.76
2013	AAA	Durham Bulls	Pit	360	84.2 IP, 19% K	3.21
2013	AA	Montgomery Biscuits	Pit	299	73.2 IP, 14% K	4.18
2012	AA	Montgomery Biscuits	Pit	369	88.1 IP, 17% K	3.58
2011	A+	Charlotte Stone Crabs	Pit	543	129.0 IP, 13% K	3.28
2010	A	Bowling Green Hot Rods	Pit	72	16.1 IP, 14% K	7.27

Splits

Year	vs LHP	vs RHP	Home	Away
2021	0.000	0.172	0.139	0.095
2019	0.050	0.046	0.064	0.029

wOBA by split, from pitch level data, 2015 on. For pitchers the split is the batter side faced.

Postseason pitching

Year	W	L	ERA	G	GS	SV	IP	H	HR	BB	SO	WHIP
2023	3	1	2.25	4	4	0	24.0	12	4	8	28	0.83
Career	3	1	2.25	4	4	0	24.0	12	4	8	28	0.83