NL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: DIAMONDBACKS VS PHILLIES

October 23, 2023

Merrill Kelly

Citizens Bank Park

Arizona Diamondbacks

Postgame 6 Press Conference

Diamondbacks 5, Phillies 1

THE MODERATOR: We'll open it up for questions for Merrill.

Q. Obviously they kind of got you early last time you faced this lineup. How did you attack them differently this time and especially those top three hitters in the Phillies lineup?

MERRILL KELLY: The game plan wasn't to change necessarily. I went back and looked at my game. It was more about executing. I think, especially the early homers that you talk about purely just weren't executed pitches. The one to Trea was a noncompetitive backup cutter that was middle, and the first one to Schwarb was a fastball middle away.

My priority was not necessarily to change the whole game plan. Not really go back to the drawing board, but more of just focus on each and every pitch and just try my best to execute each and every pitch.

Q. You had some traffic in the first couple of innings and then really settled down as the game went on. What did you open up? What adjustments did you make that second time through the order?

MERRILL KELLY: Probably going back to him, like not really -- didn't really try it change too much. I was confident that the game plan was going to work. And even though we did have traffic there with the walks, Harper and Schwarber are both super locked in right now. They're not missing too many mistakes, so I'm not too mad about putting them on base right now.

If the worst thing they get to me all day is a walk, I went in tonight being okay with that and just trusting that in between those guys that I had the confidence to get the other guys out.

I just really didn't want to have those guys beat me, so if I did have a little bit of traffic on base, I just tried to trust my stuff and get some ground balls or quick outs after that.

Q. Merrill, when you were taken out, you appeared to be upset. Can you talk about your emotions there and the thought and what you wanted?

MERRILL KELLY: Yeah. I just don't like ever coming out of a game. That's partly just me being stubborn. Also partly just the situation.

I think partly why I was upset right there was I was kind of just taken off guard by it. I just went through their top three, punched out two of them. 90 pitches through five, I'm thinking I'm for sure going back out for six. When I came in and saw his hand out for the handshake that I was done, it kind of just, I think, took me by shock more than anything.

And in that situation in LCS Game 6, I want to be out there and help my team win. And that's kind of my mentality. We had a conversation after that inning. He kind of broke down why it was that he took me out and the reason behind it, and at the end of the day, I trust my bullpen. It's not about me not trusting who is coming in behind me. It's just me trusting myself, I think.

But at the end of the day, the guys behind me came in and did a great job, and at the end of the day, if we win, then that's what matters.

Q. Merrill, two quick ones if I could. First, getting swings and misses and getting them to chase was a bigger part of your game than it typically is during the night. Is that an adjustment you were making seeing what they were doing with your stuff? How does that come about?

MERRILL KELLY: I think that's just me when I'm good. I'm the type of guy that I kind of have to live on the edges. I don't have the 95-plus fastball and the super-spinny breaking ball, so I kind of make a living on making people make decisions, right?

If I'm living on the edges, that forces them to make decisions, and it forces them to swing at pitches that maybe they wouldn't normally or maybe they shouldn't be swinging at. And when I'm locating those pitches, especially with the ability to change directions and change speeds, I think that's probably when I'm at my best.

Q. I just wonder if this time since you came out of the game, if you've had a chance to reflect on how far you've come over these past few years to be able to have a moment like this tonight?

MERRILL KELLY: Yeah, it's been fun. It's been a good journey. I've said it before, if you would have told me I would be sitting here five years ago, even when I did make it to the Big Leagues for the first time, I would have told you you were probably crazy.

There was a lot of hurdles that I think I had to get over and get past to get here. I definitely don't take sitting here talking to you guys for granted. I don't take for granted.

That I was the Game 6 starter today and helped the D-backs win a crucial Game 6.

It's been fun to kind of enjoy it with these guys in our clubhouse and on that side, and I think a lot of them have helped me get here, but it's been fun, and I'm just trying to kind of take everything and enjoy it.

Q. What, if anything, will you say to Brandon? It's Game 7 for him. In the next 24 hours, less than that, will you talk to him?

MERRILL KELLY: Yeah, I've seen the maturity and the development of Brandon that has come a long way from when he first got called up and got roughed up a little bit, and then we sent him back down. But ever since he's come back, I've said it to a lot of different people, I feel like every time he takes the ball, he gets a little bit better.

I'm probably just going to tell him to do what he did at home. He threw a really, really good game at home against these guys, and I think he's going to be really good pitcher in this league for a long time.

He has the makeup for it. He has the stuff for it. He doesn't get rattled. He has a pretty slow heartbeat for how young he is, but I would probably tell him just go compete and have some fun.