2025 Stats
W-L
9-7
ERA
3.35
WHIP
1.06
K
139
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.
Delivers quality start
Kelly did not factor in the decision during Tuesday's loss to the Royals. He allowed two runs on two hits over six innings while striking out three.
Analysis
Kelly was nearly untouchable Tuesday, but the only two hits he allowed were solo homers by Vinnie Pasquantino and Mike Yastrzemski in the first and sixth innings, respectively. It was Kelly's second straight quality start, and he needed only 71 pitches (50 strikes) to get it done. He's been taken deep five times in the last three games after giving up five homers over his previous eight starts. Kelly lowered his season ERA to 3.35 with a 139:44 K:BB through 150.2 innings. He owns a 4.09 ERA in four starts since being traded to Texas. Kelly is projected for a home matchup with the Guardians this weekend.
Kelly was nearly untouchable Tuesday, but the only two hits he allowed were solo homers by Vinnie Pasquantino and Mike Yastrzemski in the first and sixth innings, respectively. It was Kelly's second straight quality start, and he needed only 71 pitches (50 strikes) to get it done. He's been taken deep five times in the last three games after giving up five homers over his previous eight starts. Kelly lowered his season ERA to 3.35 with a 139:44 K:BB through 150.2 innings. He owns a 4.09 ERA in four starts since being traded to Texas. Kelly is projected for a home matchup with the Guardians this weekend.
Pitching Stats
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2025 MLB Game Log
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2024
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Minor League Game Log
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Pitching Appearances Breakdown
Average Pitch Count
90
Last 10 Games
88
Last 5 Games
86
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
-3%
BAA vs RHP
2025
-16%
BAA vs RHP
| BAA | K | BB | H | HR | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Since 2023vs Left | .223 | 178 | 79 | 168 | 32 | |||
| Since 2023vs Right | .217 | 211 | 53 | 158 | 18 | |||
| 2025vs Left | .224 | 65 | 25 | 66 | 15 | |||
| 2025vs Right | .189 | 74 | 19 | 50 | 4 | |||
| 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 | |||
| More Splits→ | View More Split Stats | |||||||
Home/Away Pitching Splits
Since 2023
-10%
ERA at Home
2025
-16%
ERA on Road
| ERA | WHIP | IP | K/9 | BB/9 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Since 2023Home | 3.27 | 1.11 | 206.1 | 9.0 | 3.2 | ||||
| Since 2023Away | 3.63 | 1.17 | 195.2 | 8.4 | 2.7 | ||||
| 2025Home | 3.65 | 1.20 | 74.0 | 8.5 | 3.5 | ||||
| 2025Away | 3.05 | 0.93 | 76.2 | 8.1 | 1.8 | ||||
| 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 | ||||
| More Splits→ | View More Split Stats | ||||||||
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
3.16K/9
8.3BB/9
2.6HR/9
1.1Fastball
92.0 mphERA
3.35WHIP
1.06BABIP
.253GB/FB
1.28Left On Base
72.7%Exit Velocity
82.9 mphBarrels/BBE
5.4%Spin Rate
2314 rpmBalls Hit 95+ MPH
27.8%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
Solid vs. former team
Kelly did not factor into the decision in Wednesday's loss to the Diamondbacks. He gave up two runs on seven hits and a walk while striking out five across six innings.
Analysis
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Labors in seventh loss
Kelly (9-7) took the loss Friday against the Phillies, allowing four runs on five hits and five walks in 4.1 innings. He struck out four.
Analysis
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Strong in Rangers debut
Kelly did not factor into the decision in Saturday's 6-4 extra-innings win over the Mariners, allowing two runs on four hits and no walks with six strikeouts over 5.2 innings.
Analysis
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Set for team debut Saturday
Kelly is scheduled to start Saturday's game against the Mariners at T-Mobile Park.
Analysis
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Heading to Texas
The Rangers acquired Kelly from the Diamondbacks on Thursday in exchange for left-handers Kohl Drake and Mitch Bratt and right-hander David Hagaman, Jeff Passan of ESPN.com reports.
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.