2022 was by far and away the best season of Merrill Kelly’s career, whether pitching here in the States or in the KBO. Quite simply, it was a career season for the right-hander, one in which he even managed to achieve his personal goal of throwing 200 innings, something that simply is no longer common in the Majors.
It is that drive to pitch 200 innings that was a big part of what landed Kelly here at the #2 spot in this season’s reviews. While the Diamondbacks spent the majority of the season with only four starting pitchers in their five-man rotation, one of which was an aging, washed-up Madison Bumgarner and another was a marginal starting talent in Zach Davies, Kelly’s ability to not only eat innings in large chunks, but to keep his team in the game while doing so, was a godsend.