For Levi Kelly, the journey to being a big-league pitcher has been somewhat unique. It has taken him from the hills of West Virginia to the sunshine in Florida and now to the desert in Arizona.
During his freshman season at West Virginia powerhouse Nitro High School, Kelly was named the top right-handed pitcher in the 2018 class by Perfect Game and committed to LSU. Coincidentally, Nitro is the alma mater of another Diamondbacks draftee from 2010 when they tabbed J.R. Bradley with the 56th pick. For Kelly’s part he said playing at Nitro was valuable.
“Looking back now, Nitro High School was really good for me,” said Kelly. “There were quality seniors in the state and in our conference. Zach Minnick at Logan (played collegiately at Campbell) was really good. It was good competition for me as a freshman.”
While most people wouldn’t consider West Virginia a hotbed of high school baseball, the state was stocked with talent as Michael Grove (Dodgers), Trey Dawson (Astros), and Paul Witt (Nationals) were all eventually drafted or signed to professional contracts.
After Kelly’s freshman season, he made the decision to transfer to IMG Academy in Florida becoming the first athlete from West Virginia to make that move. There were a number of factors that went into the decision, but Kelly was quickly learning through playing the travel ball circuit that the speed of the game was much faster when going against better competition.
“The summer of freshman year I played for a travel team in Florida called FTB. It took me half the year to catch up to the speed of travel ball down there,” said Kelly. Through the course of conversation with his parents, he realized he would need to make a move to fulfill his dream of playing Major League Baseball.
Kelly explained that the decision wasn’t easy, but he wanted to play against the best competition possible. “A perfect example is, my senior year at IMG there were 18 Division 1 commitments on our team. There might be 18 Division 1 commitments total in some states. I talked to my parents and told them I have to go south and it helped me realize where I was at and what I needed to do to become a big leaguer,” said Kelly.
That move eventually led to him drawing interest from professional scouts but with a commitment to LSU already secured, Kelly was prepared to play in college. In fact, after his name wasn’t called in the first two rounds of the draft, Kelly felt it was in his best interest to head to Baton Rouge.
However, another Nitro connection played a role in him being drafted by Arizona. J.R. House was a record setting quarterback at Nitro in the late 90s (as a sidebar, look him up - House threw 10 touchdowns in a single game and had over 14,000 yards in his high school football career) and had gotten to know Kelly and his family over the years. After a professional baseball career that spanned nine seasons and 32 games at the Major League level, House became a roving instructor for the Diamondbacks.
When Arizona made Kelly their pick in the fourth Round, it was House who made the call letting him know. The contact made Kelly rethink his thoughts about LSU and, ultimately, sign with Arizona.
“If J.R. House wasn’t with the Diamondbacks, I would have gone to LSU. After the 4th Round, I was thinking it might be best to go to LSU. J.R. was actually the one who called me on draft day. Once I knew I had him there, I knew I had someone fighting for me and it would make for a smoother transition,” said Kelly.
The bond they share has continued even though House has moved on and is now coaching in the Reds’ organization. Kelly credits House not only with guiding him through the ups and downs of professional baseball but also in advocating for him.
“If J.R. House wasn’t with the Diamondbacks, I would have gone to LSU. After the 4th Round, I was thinking it might be best to go to LSU.”
“I probably talk to J.R. once a month even though he is with the Reds,” Kelly said. “So, he’s been with me the whole way and he knew what type of player and worker I am.”
After making the decision to sign his professional contract, Kelly went right to Rookie ball where he threw six innings in the Arizona League. He came into the 2019 season and was told he was ticketed for extended spring training, something that motivated him to break camp with a full-season affiliate.
“I had a chip on my shoulder that year because they told me I was going to extended (Spring Training) and I felt like I should break camp and go to full-season,” said Kelly.
He ended up pitching well enough that spring to earn a spot on the Opening Day roster for Kane County. Kelly spent the entire 2019 season there, tossing 100.1 innings with 126 strikeouts and a 2.15 ERA. His hopes for 2020 were high but then the world was shut down for COVID-19.
Kelly was left to figure things out away from the organization, something that made him shift his mindset. As Kelly tells it, he believes you will see the difference between people who took advantage of the time away from baseball and the ones who didn’t.
“The gyms weren’t open so you had to make a choice: Either you weren’t going to work out or you were going to figure it out,” said Kelly. “Just with all of that, you’re either going to go one way or the other. It’s going to hurt you and you’re going to dwell on it or your perspective is that you’re going to make the most of it.”
Kelly was able to get some work in with teammates working out and throwing live BP once per week. He also picked up a few new training methods in the form of meditation, ice baths, and the use of a sauna.
He felt good throwing during the shutdown so when he was invited to alternate site as part of the 60-man pool, he was ready to go. Once at the alternate site, Kelly said the competition was better than what he might have seen even at AA.
“I was lucky enough to end up on the 60-man and face guys who were bouncing back and forth to the big leagues,” said Kelly. “So, I saw probably a higher level of competition than I might have faced at Double-A.”
With a devastating slider and a fastball that touches 98, Kelly probably has the stuff right now to be part of a Major League bullpen. However, the goal is for him to be a starter and he worked hard during the shutdown and at the alternate site on adding to his repertoire.
“Right now, the plan is to stay a starter. One thing people haven’t seen is that I am throwing a splitter now instead of a changeup. That pitch is getting close to where I want it to be,” said Kelly.
When I asked him about the splitter becoming a serviceable third pitch, he said he committed to working on it almost immediately after the 2019 season.
“You’re either going to go one way or the other. It’s going to hurt you and you’re going to dwell on it or your perspective is that you’re going to make the most of it.”
“My fingers aren’t quite as wide as a traditional splitter grip but I started committing to it the offseason after Kane County (in 2019). It had come a long way by Spring Training last year but it wasn’t where I wanted it,” Kelly said. “Then the shutdown came and I really focused on it so when I got out to the 60-man, it was there almost every outing. I now feel confident that if I don’t have my slider on a given day, I could fastball and splitter and be fine.”
As if that wasn’t enough, Kelly has also been working on a curveball that he is hoping can make the same jump this year that the splitter. It’s a pitch that has a different shape and softer feel than anything he currently throws, adding a layer of deception to his arsenal.
Kelly said, “During the shutdown, I first started with the curveball. I was throwing with a buddy and just started messing with it. Everything I throw is 86-90 or 95-98 but the curve is something that is mid-70s. I think that front-to-back change in velocity will help.”
Kelly’s time at the alternate site gave him a chance to face off against the big-league roster on two different occasions and he said facing guys like Ketel Marte and Jake Lamb was a challenge but it made him realize his stuff could play at that level. He also saw the subtle differences between guys who can stick in the Major Leagues and the ones who can’t.
“I threw against the big-league team twice. I threw well so my biggest takeaway was that my stuff can play here. And when my stuff is on like that, it plays at a high level,” said Kelly. “But the biggest difference between a minor leaguer and a big leaguer is that big leaguers have one bad outing and they are back. Minor leaguers can get in a rut. That’s where I have to get more consistent and more aware of when things go wrong and things go right.”
Kelly said his time at the alternate site was mostly positive as he learned how to live without his vaunted slider. The organization would limit how often he could throw it in a given outing, which forced him to lean more on his newly found splitter. He also had to adjust what he was doing to counter what hitters were able to do against him.
“It was good being at the alternate site because you would see the same guys every time out so you had to learn how to pitch them different ways. You could tell when they were starting to figure you out and you had to make an adjustment,” said Kelly. “At the beginning of the alternate site, I was throwing the slider at everyone with a lot of success. But then the team took the slider away and I had to lean more on my splitter and I think it made it even better that I had to throw the splitter a lot.”
One other big takeaway from the alternate site was how he was able to use technology and analytics. Kelly said he still relies on reading hitters but explained the data was typically reinforcing what hitters were telling him and even how it felt on a given day.
“I use technology probably different than a lot of people. I still think the hitter will tell you what you need to know but the data backs up what the hitter tells you. Typically, when I would have a bad outing, the data would shift one way or the other and it wasn’t just because of this mechanical flaw, the vertical carry on your fastball went down and now your velo is down.”
“You know it because the hitters will tell you and I could be throwing 97 up in the zone and they have no chance. Then three weeks later I think I’m throwing 97 up and they are crushing it. They either know what you’re throwing or it’s not the same pitch so typically all those things line up and the data confirms what is going on with numbers,” said Kelly.
Through our conversation it was easy to see that, despite being just 21, Kelly has the mindset of a big leaguer. His work ethic has never been questioned and the fact he was able to do so much during the shutdown is a testament to who he is as a person. Kelly loves competition and pitching is the ultimate one-on-one challenge.
“I am super competitive and I look at this almost like a cage fight. This is me versus you. And just like in a fight, if you get hit with a right you don’t want him to see that you’re wobbly because he will pounce on you. You want to fight back and that’s the mentality I have on the mound because I want to be stoic and not let anyone see that I’m bothered by adversity,” said Kelly. “If you show yourself on the mound, you’re telling the other team everything they need to know. If I see a hitter who is frustrated and wobbly, it makes me want to go after him even more.”
But the biggest difference between a minor leaguer and a big leaguer is that big leaguers have one bad outing and they are back."
I came away from my time with him knowing a couple things are for certain, namely that I won’t be betting against Kelly being called up by 2022 at the latest. He was so well-spoken for a kid his age but what came through was how mature and poised he was when discussing his career arc and willingness to improve. Adding a third and fourth pitch is one of the most difficult things a young pitcher has to master but Kelly understands it is not only necessary, but required for what he wants to do.
Kelly’s competitive spirit will undoubtedly help him this year as he hopes to begin the year at Double-A and eventually make his way into the conversation as a late-season call-up. Either way, he knows that his performance will ultimately be why he achieves his ultimate goal of being on the big-league roster.
“I want to be called up at some point this year but I expect to start at Double-A and be ready to compete for a full-time spot next year at Spring Training to be a starter. But we will see. I can only control how I throw and if I feel like I threw well enough and deserve to be there and I’m not, I will be aggravated but if I don’t throw well enough I’ll understand and work harder,” Kelly said.