Sources: Rangers acquire Merrill Kelly from Diamondbacks

Copy Link

Email

Print

The Texas Rangers are acquiring right-hander Merrill Kelly from the Arizona Diamondbacks, sources told ESPN's Jeff Passan on Thursday.

Kelly is viewed as a grind-it-out innings eater, and he's pitched well of late with a 2.56 ERA over his past 10 starts to lower his season ERA to 3.22. After getting knocked out early in his second start of the season, he's gone at least five innings in every start since.

The 36-year-old Kelly, set to hit free agency after this season, doesn't have big raw stuff, posting the second-lowest average fastball velocity among pitchers with 115 innings pitched by the All-Star break. His changeup is his best pitch by a wide margin, and he gets by…