Merrill Kelly pitched in Korea for four seasons, those summers square in his athletic prime. He was what scouts call — and what he calls — a “stock righty,” which means good but probably not great, some velocity but nothing extraordinary, and with all the standard pitches.
He’d traveled to Incheon for an opportunity that seemed a long way off had he remained with the Tampa Bay Rays. Stock righties find work in the major leagues, though not often in Tampa’s starting rotation. He’d stay in Korea a couple years, make a little money, then hurry back to big-league free agency and the rest of his life.