To be a successful major league pitcher takes more than just talent, otherwise Joe Kelly might’ve come through on his preseason promise to win the American League Cy Young Award last year.
Throwing a fastball 100 mph with a breaking ball that can spin from waist-level to the dirt was enough for Kelly to have stints of major league success early in his career. But he was pitching poorly through June, nursing a career-high 5.67 ERA.
Later in the month, shortly after his 27th birthday, he was back in Triple-A Pawtucket when his eureka moment took place.