NL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: DIAMONDBACKS VS PHILLIES

October 21, 2023

Merrill Kelly

Chase Field

Arizona Diamondbacks

Pregame 5 Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: We'll get started with Merrill Kelly.

Q. Just what can you take from that experience in Philadelphia that can apply on Monday?

MERRILL KELLY: I think just the overall experience. First playoff game there, first experience in that stadium. So I think walking in, even just the visual from the mound, just little stuff like that. I don't think I've pitched there since -- I think that was the first game I've pitched there since '19. It's been a while.

So just the fact that I know the dimensions, know the vantage point from the pitcher's mound, that type of thing. I think I can take just the whole in-game experience and it will be -- it won't be fresh.

Q. What's it been like to see how you guys have responded to those first couple of games?

MERRILL KELLY: It's just been fun, man. The whole team is enjoying themselves right now. I think a lot of people didn't expect us to be here, so I think the fact that we can all kind of come together in that clubhouse and kind of cherish that and kind of use that to our advantage has been big.

But I saw that we've had four comeback wins in the postseason. That's kind of been our MO. It's maybe a little bit more stressful at times than I think a lot of us would like, but it's the playoffs. Anything can happen. At the end of the day, all that matters is getting the W. But we're enjoying it. We're kind of just going along for the ride right now.

Q. How much do you think the camaraderie and the relationships in there have helped you guys kind of create those comebacks?

MERRILL KELLY: I think a lot. Everybody trusts each other. Even if somebody doesn't get the job done, we're not sitting in there hanging our heads, saying we're done for. It's next-man-up mentality.

I think if somebody doesn't do their job, the guy right behind them will want to pick them up, not only as a teammate, but just as a guy that's gotten to know everybody over the last six, seven months that we've doing this.

So I think the closer the team is, it bodes well. Everybody is pulling in the same direction.

Q. When you were in Korea, did you ever think about, dream about starts like these, or was that almost too far away to even think about?

MERRILL KELLY: Every day. When I went over to Korea, like I've said before, my main goal was obviously to come back at some point. Nowhere in my mind when I was in Korea told myself that this was it, right? I never accepted the fact that that was my career. I accepted the fact that that was my career at the time until the foreseeable future, but I definitely didn't accept that that was my career, and that was where it was going to finish.

I definitely had aspirations of being here, sitting in this room talking to you guys, and I think that was part of almost my daily routine. The games are on early in the morning over there when I wake up. So I'd wake and check on -- first, I would check on my guys, my friends in the league and see how they were doing that day. And then obviously pay attention to the teams that I thought towards the end of my time over there that I thought I might have a chance to come back and contribute with.

There wasn't a day during my time in Korea that I didn't think about being here.

Q. Does that make it even more special? I know not getting to pitch a home game in series, but even being a road game, seeing a crowd of 48,000 people, going crazy, does that make it more special experiencing that?

MERRILL KELLY: I think so. What we're doing right now is every little kid's dream. When you are in the backyard and you're playing with your friends -- it sounds cliche just coming out of my mouth as I'm saying it -- but it's the truth. You ask a lot of guys in this league that have been lifetime baseball fans, lifetime passionate about the game of baseball, we all dream about being in these situations. Obviously the aspirations and dreams are usually the World Series, but the fact that we're knocking on the doorstep is pretty special.

Q. Just a follow-up, you said you were watching games of teams. Were the Diamondbacks a team you thought might be a fit?

MERRILL KELLY: Honestly no. I didn't hear from them until the day I became a free agent. It's a ten-month contract over there, so you're not a free agent through November. So December 1st actually was my wedding day. The Diamondbacks gave me a call in the morning and said they wanted to get something done.

I hadn't heard from them before that. The two teams in my mind were either San Diego or Boston, to be honest with you. Then when these guys called, and not only is it my backyard with my friends and family, but they also trumped the two offers that we had on the table. At that point it was definitely a no-brainer.

Q. Merrill, are you superstitious at all in the dugout watching any of these games, where you sit, anything along those lines?

MERRILL KELLY: A little bit. Not too much as I used to be when I was younger. I think when you are younger, you pay attention to that stuff a little bit more. As you have seen more and more things happen in this game, you learn that a lot of things are just completely random. You have no control where you sit or what you are drinking or if you had seeds in your mouth at the time or not.

I would say the only role that I probably follow is same seats. If we're rolling -- like, we had an inning last night, if things are going well, and the boys are doing good, I would prefer if everybody stayed where they were at. But that would probably be my probably biggest and only superstition in the dugout.

Q. Who were the other two teams?

MERRILL KELLY: San Diego and Boston.

Q. So if the Diamondbacks hadn't come in with a higher offer, had you made a decision on which one you would have taken?

MERRILL KELLY: It never got that far. We knew we were getting one-year offers for them, and the Diamondbacks came with a multi-year offer. So once the other two teams heard that the offer from these guys was multi-year, they kind of basically said that I should go ahead and take that one.

Q. So basically, I mean, I know you guys think in the present. You don't want to think too much past today, but the fact is that if Zac wins today, you get to go home with a chance to clinch a spot in the World Series.

MERRILL KELLY: You mean away.

Q. No, but I mean, it's where you are from, pretty much?

MERRILL KELLY: We lived there. I'm not from there, but we lived there.

Q. Right. And a big deal was made about that before you pitched there the first time, so you get to go back to that area with a chance to clinch the World Series. Do you allow yourself to even think about that, or is it just like I'm going to center in on today first?

MERRILL KELLY: I think my mind goes to I'm pitching a game to go to the World Series. It doesn't matter if it's in Philly, here, the moon. In my mind it doesn't matter as long as I'm pitching a game. If I'm pitching a game to get to the World Series, that's where my mind is at, not necessarily where it's at.

Q. But you are thinking that if Zac wins today, you have a chance to take you to the World Series?

MERRILL KELLY: Yeah, of course. That's what would happen if Zac won today. Yeah, I get what you are saying. I acknowledge. When we won yesterday -- I'll answer it this way. When we won yesterday, you know, there was definitely a thought in my mind that obviously if we win today, then obviously I would be the one hopefully with the ball in my hand to get us to the World Series, yeah.

Q. I guess just kind of going back to that same subject, you mentioned that was on your wedding day. What was getting that news like for you?

MERRILL KELLY: It was a crazy day, I'll say that. It was fun. The fact that I got to tell my wife on arguably the greatest day of my life not only that I get to say yes and marry her, but the fact that I also knew that I was completing something that I worked my whole life for, definitely made that day a lot more special than it already started out to be.