MLB WORLD SERIES: DIAMONDBACKS VS RANGERS

October 27, 2023

Merrill Kelly

Globe Life Field

Arizona Diamondbacks

Pregame 1 Press Conference

Q. Curious about your preparation over the last few days and your thoughts and feelings about making it here?

MERRILL KELLY: I decided to take a look back just to double-check that it said World Series behind me.

Preparation, as far as preparation, it's been the same. Going over the usual game plan and kind of homework that I usually do on anybody.

Trying to treat it as much like a normal game as I can. Obviously once I get out there, it's probably going to be very apparent to me that it's not.

But I'm trying to treat it as much as a regular-season game. I'm trying to go through my normal checklist and protocols that I can. Other than that, just trying to kind of embrace everything and trying to enjoy just being here.

Like I said, looking behind me and seeing that World Series is obviously really special and really cool. So I'm trying not to take anything for granted, try not to miss any opportunity to kind of savor the moment.

Q. Zac was in here yesterday and he said Gabriel Moreno was 23 going on 33. I imagine you feel about the Corbin Carroll, maybe even Alek Thomas. Why do you think the Diamondbacks have cornered the market on mature 23-year-olds or younger?

MERRILL KELLY: Good question. First of all with Gabby, I definitely wholeheartedly agree with Gal. His strides, I was just talking to somebody in the clubhouse about him earlier, the strides as far as catching-wise from the beginning of the season to now are incredible. He looks like a completely differ net guy.

As far as the rest of his game, I joke when I'm 50 years old I'll be watching Gabby Moreno still playing in the big leagues. He's that kind of talent.

He definitely, as far as a 23-year-old, has the confidence of a 33-year-old. He definitely doesn't walk around the clubhouse, definitely doesn't walk around the field like he's intimidated by anything or anybody.

As far as how we got all these young, impressive, courageous, confident guys, you'd probably have to ask Haze about that.

I think that's what gets me excited about this team, not only for this year but moving forward. You would expect obviously in the years coming that all those guys that you just mentioned, they're already pretty close to elite players. And I think they're only going to get better.

That gives me excitement not only for going into this series, but also moving forward as well.

Q. Additionally, kind of the same question about Brandon Pfaadt. What have you noticed about his development this year, where he came from in his early stints with the team and how erratic he was? Now you're in the playoffs and you have almost a polished pitcher. How do you think that came about?

MERRILL KELLY: I think similar for what I was talking about the other three guys. Obviously Brandon, when he came up, scuffled a little bit, which is to be expected. There's not too many people -- I've only been in the big leagues, this is my fifth year -- but obviously I've watched for a long time.

And it's rare that you see a rookie, especially a pitcher, come up and just ease into it and just hit the ground running. It's a tough league to get adjusted to, not only baseball-wise, but all the external factors that go along with getting to the big leagues as far as family and exposure and all that.

But ever since Brandon's come back, it's been a lot fun to watch.

I think the same thing about Gabby. I think Brandon has every tool needed to be in this league for a long, long time. He's got a good head on his shoulders. He's got a slow heartbeat. He always wants to get better.

And he doesn't seem to ride the emotional roller coaster, whether he's going bad or going good. But the fact that we have relied on him so heavily throughout this postseason, I mean, he's arguably been our best starting pitcher.

In that Phillies series, obviously me and Gallen scuffled early. And the fact that Brandon was able to put the brakes on the skid when we went back home just kind of shows you the difference between where he was in the beginning of the season compared to where he is now.

When I looked at him before, he goes out into all these postseason games, you wouldn't know that he's a 25-year-old about to pitch in his first World Series. He looks the same as he did even when he got sent down and when he came back.

So I think that bodes just kind of explains what type of person he is. And I think he's going to be here for a long time.

Q. We've asked a lot of questions during the postseason, during the regular season, but one thing I'm interested in, to you, too, is your adjustment coming over here from Korea and then pitching in a different league, back in the Major Leagues where you wanted to go. How long did that take for you to adjust? And what was the toughest part of it?

MERRILL KELLY: I mean, in my opinion I'm still adjusting. Right? This game, in general, especially in this league, is a game of adjustments.

But as far as getting my feet on the ground, I think really those first two years, the first year was definitely a whirlwind. It was the fastest year, not only baseball-wise but in my life in general.

Like I touched on earlier, with all the external stuff that happens when you get to the big leagues that you don't quite expect, not only are you trying to get the best big league hitters out in the world, you're also trying to manage family expectations, talking to you guys more, everything that goes along with being in the show.

And I would say after those first two years is really when I started to feel more confident and more comfortable being a Major League pitcher.

Q. You mentioned you're not trying to take any moment for granted and you're kind of soaking things in. How are you doing that so far? Like this morning I saw Torey just walk around the outfield on Facetime, just showing it off. Seems like that's one way he's soaking it in. How are you enjoying this moment while preparing for tomorrow?

MERRILL KELLY: Just trying to slow the day down, I guess, as much as possible. Obviously yesterday we had a bunch of media stuff in the middle of our workout. Today there's obviously a lot more things that we don't normally have to do on a day-to-day basis when we're getting ready to play a game.

So I'm just trying to, like I said, just slow myself down and really not try to rush through anything really. Even if it's tedious signing, however many balls I just signed, just appreciating the fact that I'm in this spot.

And at the end of the day some of the stuff can be tedious and annoying, but it's a privilege to be doing it at this stage of the game.

Q. Is there anything more special about the World Series being in two states you grew up in?

MERRILL KELLY: Somebody asked me about that yesterday. It's definitely pretty cool. All my roots are here. My mom's from Beaumont, which is right on the border of Louisiana. My dad is from Brownsville, which is about as far south Texas as you can go. My grandmother is actually coming over from Beaumont.

So it's cool to see the family support, especially with being at home and having my family and my wife's family both there.

And then obviously coming here, I'm hoping that we at least have -- we probably don't have much of the state of Texas behind us, but at least I know there's at least my family that's rooting for us for sure.

Q. Going back to signing the baseballs what other responsibilities -- how is today before a road game different than a typical road game?

MERRILL KELLY: Probably stuff like this is the biggest. Obviously getting ready for a regular season start, we don't have to talk to you guys the day before. Just little stuff like that. And obviously the kind of circus atmosphere that it was yesterday with everybody at the tables and talking to whoever they can at the time.

There hasn't been too much external, but I just feel like the playoffs, in general -- obviously this is my first big league playoff experience, and we haven't had home field advantage ever, so we've just been constantly going, which we're used to but some of the families aren't necessarily used to being on the road that much.

So just trying to adjust to that type of stuff. But once I get to tomorrow, it will be, hopefully, business as usual.

Q. Going back to what you were saying about Gabby, can you just expand on what he's improved upon from a catching standpoint that stands out to you?

MERRILL KELLY: Obviously his arm speaks for itself. I don't think he needed any help in that department, but I just think the biggest thing that I've seen is not only the game-calling and the quarterbacking back from that position, but also the receiving.

I know that coming into this year, receiving, I think, was one of his big emphasis of work. And just the fact that I watched from the dugout -- obviously it's fun to watch from the mound, but I think when I'm pitching, I don't notice it as much because I'm so focused on trying to do my job -- but just watching from the dugout and seeing some of these pitches that get called strikes and how smooth he looks back there I think is probably the biggest stride.

Q. With Zac, how have you seen him evolve these last couple of seasons now leading up to this?

MERRILL KELLY: Man, honestly, there hasn't been too much evolving. I guess I can answer it this way -- the fact that you look at his body of work this year, 200 innings, 200 strikeouts with a three-and-a-half, and I think a lot of people would argue that's a down year.

So I think ever since I've been in the league, he's had a couple of hiccups as far as some weird injury, had a broken bone in his elbow, that type of stuff. But other than that, when he's healthy he's definitely one of the best pitchers in the National League.

And as I said, I think what I just said, the fact that he's had a down year this year for how good he's been, I think just illustrates how good of a pitcher he is and how good of a pitcher he will be for a long time.