Merrill Kelly Doesn’t Think Phillies Fans Will Be That Loud Tonight

Has no one learned not to poke the bear? Did the fate of Orlando Arcia and Spencer Strider teach people nothing? Arcia foolishly gave Bryce Harper bulletin board material, and Strider let the fans know he does not like loud crowds. It came back to bite both of them. Now Merrill Kelly is the latest player to test fate by coming at the Phillies fans. Because he does not think you all are capable of being as loud as the Crowd at the World Baseball Classic.

To be fair, some of those WBC crowds got crazy. But Phillies crowds in the playoffs are just as crazy. We have set off warnings on Apple Watches that the noise level is dangerous for people's health. Decibel levels reached as high as 111 in game 1. I don't know if the crowd can be louder than that. But now that Kelly put out the challenge, they sure will try to be.

Why even open your mouth? Nothing good can come from saying that. Maybe he didn't even realize what he was doing. He might have just been trying to share an anecdote about the loudest game he ever played in. But Phillies fans will take it as a shot and as a challenge. After the game, Marsh asked fans to get to 112 decibels, or even 150. They may just do it now.

So you've heard it Phillies fans. The challenge has been issued. Can we be even louder than the crowd got for Trea Turner's Grand Slam against Venezuela? Maybe Trea Turner should just go ahead and hit another one off Merrill Kelly tonight. Let Kelly see firsthand how loud we can get.

One win down, 3 more to go in the NLCS. The Phillies jumped on the Diamondbacks in game 1, hanging 5 runs, including 3 solo HRs, on the Ace Zac Gallen. Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber, and Nick Castellanos all hit homers off of Zac fallen in the first two innings. They get right back to it tonight though, with Aaron Nola set up to duel Merrill Kelly.

Kelly entered the playoffs with a 3.29 ERA. And he has continued to pitch well in the playoffs. He never faced the Brewers after the Dbacks beat them in just 2 games. But he pitched 6.1 shutout innings against the Dodgers, on the way to a 11-2 game 1 win. He has been resting for 8 days in between starts. And he has been as good as it gets this whole season when he gets that type of rest. In 5 starts with at least 6 days of rest, he had a 1.84 ERA.  

Merrill Kelly has been in the league since 2019, but has only faced the Phillies 3 times. And two of those times came in his rookie season. His first outing, in Philly, he shut the Phillies out across 7.2 innings. The next time he gave up 3 runs over 6 innings. So when he faced them in Arizona this season, it was the first time he pitched against the Phillies in 4 seasons. In it, he gave up 3 runs in 6 innings, including a solo shot by JT Realmuto.  

So his sample size against the Phillies is small. In fact, only one guy on the team has more than 10 at bats against Merrill Kelly. Trea Turner faced him a lot in his 1.5 seasons with the Dodgers and hit him pretty well. But despite the small sample sizes, how have the Phillies hit against the tough righty?  

.143/.250/.143/.393

1 for 7, 0 HRs, 0 2Bs, 0 3Bs, 0 RBIs, 1 BB, 4 Ks

.429/.500/.571/.1.071

9 for 21, 0 HRs, 3 2Bs, 0 3B, 6 RBIs, 3 BBs, 3 Ks

.200/.333/.200/.533 

1 for 5, 0 HRs, 0 2Bs, 0 3Bs, 0 RBIs, 1 BB, 0 Ks 

Has Not Faced Merrill Kelly 

.333/.333/1.000/1.333

1 for 3, 0 HRs, 0 2Bs, 1 3B, 0 RBIS, 0 BB, 0 Ks

.333/.333/.778/1.111

3 for 9, 1 HR, 1 2B, 0 3B, 3 RBIs, 0 BBs, 1 K

.000/.000/.000/.000

0 for 3, 0 HRs, 0 2Bs, 0 3Bs, 0 RBIs, 0 BBs, 2 Ks

.000/.000/.000/.000

0 for 2, 0 HRs, 0 2Bs, 0 3Bs, 0 RBIs, 0 BBs, 1 K

Has Not Faced Merrill Kelly

.288/.354/.441/.795

17 for 59, 1 HR, 4 2Bs, 1 3B, 10 RBIs, 6 BBs, 14 Ks