PHOENIX — Four years ago, Merrill Kelly was almost out of a job.
Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo told Sports Illustrated that he was about to cut Kelly for poor performance, telling him he was statistically the worst starting pitcher in the league.
Four years later, Kelly is pitching in the World Series in front of his hometown crowd.
Kelly grew up in Mesa, going to Desert Mountain High School and playing baseball there. Bryan Rice, now the baseball coach at Red Mountain High School, remembers Kelly as a kid who knew where he wanted to go.
"He wasn't necessarily just a pitcher," Rice said, "and then he decided, I'm pretty good at this."
He was good -- good enough to be drafted out of high school, but very low...the 37th round to the Orioles.
Instead, Kelly headed to Yavapai College in Prescott. He played there for two years.
"He had the desire and the drive to do what he wants to do," his former trainer Terra Schmidt said.
"It's a great experience as an athletic trainer to be around those types of people," Schmidt said.
After Yavapai College, Kelly was drafted again, this time a little higher...and the 22nd round. He declined again and transferred to ASU for one year.
The 2010 draft came and Kelly was selected in the eighth round, signing with Tampa Bay. From there it was years of minor league farm teams. At one point, Kelly even went to Korea to play baseball there. Finally, in 2019, the Diamondbacks came calling...not for the minors, for The Show.
His performance was hit or miss. That's when Lovullo told SI he threatened to cut Kelly from the team.
Instead, Kelly transformed, and the Diamondbacks headed to the World Series four years later.
"Knowing his path is what I'm most proud of," Rice said, "what he's had to overcome."
"I'm just extremely proud of everything he's done and everything he's accomplished in life," Rice said.
UP TO SPEED
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