Merrill Kelly
37-Year-Old
Free Agent
2025 Stats
W-L
12-9
ERA
3.52
WHIP
1.11
K
167
SV
0
Rest-of-Season Projections
2025 Fantasy Outlook
Before an early shoulder injury sidelined Kelly from mid-April to August, the right-hander was headed for a second consecutive impressive season, posting a 2.19 ERA over four starts. He had less success (4.96 ERA) following his return, but most of the damage was in August, and Kelly was back on form in September. Kelly finished with a greater HR/9 and struck out fewer batters in 2024, but when a pitcher misses four months, one should resist making judgments based on ratios/results and instead focus on the injury, which altered his pitch mix. Kelly threw more cutters and changeups than four-seamers for the first time in his career; however, he pitched well when healthy in April and September, putting him on a path for a normal winter of preparation. The Diamondbacks have confidence that the 36-year-old will return to his 2023 iteration (3.29 ERA, 9.5 K/9) and picked up his option. Read Past Outlooks
Signed a two-year, $17 million contract extension with the Diamondbacks in April of 2022. Diamondbacks exercised $7 million team option for 2025 in November of 2024. Traded to the Rangers in July of 2025.
Hit hard in loss
Kelly (12-9) took the loss Sunday against Miami, surrendering three runs on seven hits and a walk while striking out four over 4.1 innings.
Analysis
The veteran right-hander cruised through the first three frames, allowing only two hits, but unraveled in the fourth and fifth, giving up five hits (including three doubles) and all three of his runs before being lifted. A short time ago, Kelly was a steady innings-eater for Texas, but he has now failed to complete six innings in three consecutive outings and has struggled overall, yielding 26 hits and 12 earned runs across just 13 innings during that stretch. The 36-year-old now owns a 3.52 ERA, 1.11 WHIP and 167:48 K:BB across 184 innings.
The veteran right-hander cruised through the first three frames, allowing only two hits, but unraveled in the fourth and fifth, giving up five hits (including three doubles) and all three of his runs before being lifted. A short time ago, Kelly was a steady innings-eater for Texas, but he has now failed to complete six innings in three consecutive outings and has struggled overall, yielding 26 hits and 12 earned runs across just 13 innings during that stretch. The 36-year-old now owns a 3.52 ERA, 1.11 WHIP and 167:48 K:BB across 184 innings.
Pitching Stats
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2025 MLB Game Log
2025
2024
2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
Minor League Game Log
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Pitching Appearances Breakdown
Average Pitch Count
89
Last 10 Games
82
Last 5 Games
79
How many pitches does Merrill Kelly generally throw?
1-10
11-20
21-30
31-40
41-50
51-60
61-70
71-80
81-90
91-100
101-110
111-120
121+
What part of the game does Merrill Kelly generally pitch?
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th
8th
9th
Extra
% Games Reaching Innings Threshold
% Games By Number of Innings Pitched
Left/Right Pitching Splits
Since 2023
-4%
BAA vs LHP
2025
-3%
BAA vs LHP
| BAA | K | BB | H | HR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Since 2023vs Left | .222 | 194 | 83 | 184 | 34 |
| Since 2023vs Right | .231 | 223 | 53 | 183 | 20 |
| 2025vs Left | .222 | 81 | 29 | 82 | 17 |
| 2025vs Right | .229 | 86 | 19 | 75 | 6 |
| 2024vs Left | .234 | 23 | 16 | 33 | 6 |
| 2024vs Right | .250 | 40 | 3 | 34 | 5 |
| 2023vs Left | .218 | 90 | 38 | 69 | 11 |
| 2023vs Right | .226 | 97 | 31 | 74 | 9 |
Home/Away Pitching Splits
Since 2023
-17%
ERA at Home
2025
-7%
ERA at Home
| ERA | WHIP | IP | K/9 | BB/9 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Since 2023Home | 3.20 | 1.12 | 230.1 | 9.1 | 3.0 |
| Since 2023Away | 3.86 | 1.19 | 205.0 | 8.1 | 2.6 |
| 2025Home | 3.40 | 1.20 | 98.0 | 8.7 | 2.9 |
| 2025Away | 3.66 | 1.01 | 86.0 | 7.5 | 1.7 |
| 2024Home | 4.19 | 1.16 | 38.2 | 7.2 | 2.1 |
| 2024Away | 3.86 | 1.17 | 35.0 | 8.2 | 2.6 |
| 2023Home | 2.59 | 1.02 | 93.2 | 10.2 | 3.5 |
| 2023Away | 4.07 | 1.38 | 84.0 | 8.7 | 3.5 |
Stat Review
How does Merrill Kelly compare to other starting pitchers?
This section compares his stats with all starting pitcher seasons from the previous three seasons (minimum 120 innings)*. The bar represents the player's percentile rank. For example, if the bar is halfway across, then the player falls into the 50th percentile for that stat and it would be considered average.
* Exit Velocity, Barrels/BBE %, Balls Hit 95+ MPH %, and Spin Rate are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 120 IP). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.
* Exit Velocity, Barrels/BBE %, Balls Hit 95+ MPH %, and Spin Rate are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 120 IP). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.
K/BB
3.48K/9
8.2BB/9
2.3HR/9
1.1Fastball
92.0 mphERA
3.52WHIP
1.11BABIP
.276GB/FB
1.29Left On Base
72.9%Exit Velocity
82.9 mphBarrels/BBE
5.5%Spin Rate
2320 rpmBalls Hit 95+ MPH
27.6%Swinging Strike
11.0%Advanced Pitching Stats
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Defensive Stats
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Stats Vs Today's Lineup
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Past Fantasy Outlooks
2024
2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
Kelly's ratios were nearly equivalent to his breakthrough 2022 season, but he took a different path to get there. Last season, Kelly fanned a career best 25.9 percent of batters he faced, but he also walked them at a 9.6 percent clip, the highest mark of his career. However, the 16.3 percent K-BB% was his best in a full season. Kelly didn't change his pitch mix much, other than throwing a slider a bit and it was effective. His changeup was offering chiefly driving the increase in strikeouts. Despite posting strong ratios in 2022, Kelly wasn't trusted since he didn't miss many bats. Fast forward a year and Kelly is no longer a secret after fanning well more than a batter an inning and enjoying a strong playoff run. He's likely going to be drafted around 100 picks earlier this season, which puts him in risky territory, since that assumes Kelly continues to punch out hitters at the same rate. Don't shy away from Kelly, but don't expect a repeat of last season's newfound dominance.
More Fantasy News
Bumped up to start Sunday
Kelly will start Sunday's game against the Marlins, Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News reports.
Analysis
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Lasts three innings vs. Astros
Kelly (12-8) took the loss Tuesday against the Astros, allowing six runs on nine hits and a walk while striking out one over three-plus innings.
Analysis
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Settles in for 12th win
Kelly (12-7) earned the win Wednesday over the Brewers, allowing three runs on 10 hits across 5.2 innings. He struck out six.
Analysis
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Contains Astros in no-decision
Kelly took a no-decision Friday against the Astros, allowing one run on five hits and one walk in seven innings. He struck out seven.
Analysis
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Picks up win with quality start
Kelly (11-7) allowed three runs on six hits and struck out two without walking a batter over 6.1 innings to earn the win over the Athletics on Saturday.
Analysis
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Latest Fantasy Rumors
Rangers poking around
The Rangers have discussed a trade for Kelly with the Diamondbacks, Francys Romero of BeisbolFR.com reports.
Analysis
The Red Sox are also interested in Kelly, although it sounds as if the Diamondbacks will be inclined to keep him and make him a qualifying offer if they're underwhelmed by trade offers. Kelly will turn 37 over the offseason but has collected a 3.22 ERA and 121:38 K:BB over 128.2 innings covering 22 starts for Arizona this season.
The Red Sox are also interested in Kelly, although it sounds as if the Diamondbacks will be inclined to keep him and make him a qualifying offer if they're underwhelmed by trade offers. Kelly will turn 37 over the offseason but has collected a 3.22 ERA and 121:38 K:BB over 128.2 innings covering 22 starts for Arizona this season.