MLB · P · Arizona Diamondbacks
Merrill Kelly
B/T R/R · 6' 2" · 210 lb · born Houston, TX, USA · age 37 · draft 2010 rd 8 · played P 26 · MLB debut 2019-04-01
Last 14 days (through 2026-09-04): 2 G · 12.2 IP · 2.13 ERA · 11 SO · 1.11 WHIP
616 batters faced scored this season His season card →
On the record · career milestone this season
1,000 career strikeouts — Sat, Aug 29 · day game vs. San Francisco Giants The scorecard →
The card rack
FlagshipMerrill Kelly #87 · 2024 Topps Heritage · 31 recent sales 7N ▲0%
Live on eBay now · asking, not sold · as of 2026-09-04 · paid links
The rookieMerrill Kelly #US240 · 2019 Topps Update · 11 recent sales 7N ▲0%
Live on eBay now · asking, not sold · as of 2026-09-04 · paid links
Paid link — as an eBay Partner, FVR earns from qualifying purchases. · Flagship = his most-traded card (the market’s reference); the rookie = the top card of his first card year. As of September 4, 2026 · trend is FVR's own nightly archive · prices via SportsCardsPro · what these terms mean
Scout’s note
Kelly crossed 1,000 career strikeouts on August 29 — 1,006 and counting across 197 major-league games — and the Index carried the page for the chase. A 37-year-old Houston native drafted in the 8th round in 2010, Kelly is in his eighth big-league season, and the boards are clear: a milestone is an event, not a signal. The season read bears that out — 5.08 ERA over 141.2 innings, 95 strikeouts in 25 games, MLB WAR of -0.4.
Note written · FVR scout (GLM-5.2)
We wrote about Kelly here — The Overnight: 1,000 career strikeouts (August 29, 2026)
Current signals
The read: Kelly is in the Index for the milestone watch — career No. 1000 K landed August 29. Milestone nights are when the hobby pays attention, so the page is up for the chase. The boards stay honest: a milestone is an event, not a signal.
What he’s paid
Under contractA market fact, not an engine read: what a club decided about him, on the season before this one. Figures from Cot’s, as of .
- 2026 salary
- $18.00M
- Tax hit
- $20.00M
- Service time
- 7 yr 0 d
- Guaranteed
- $40M
The deal 2 years $40M (2026–2027) — $20.0M a year on average, worked out by us rather than stated on the sheet, and not the same thing as the tax hit above
On the sheet: 2 y/$40M (26-27)+28 v opt · agent Apex · 3 / 3 options left
After this season, as the sheet has it
| Season | 2027 | 2028 |
|---|---|---|
| Cash | $22.0M | Option |
| Tax hit | $20.0M | Option |
Cash and the tax hit are two different rulebooks and are never subtracted from one another — see the payroll board for his club, Arizona Diamondbacks.
A second set of books
The same contract, read by MLB Spreadsheets (Ethan Hullihen), as of . We keep two sources on this because one source cannot check itself.
- Tax AAV
- $20.0M
- Guaranteed
- $40.0M
- Term
- 2 yrs
What the sheet prices each season at
| Season | 2026 | 2027 | 2028 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Salary | $17.0M | $21.0M | $12.0M |
A base salary under his own reading, and never subtracted from the cash figure above: a signing bonus lands in one and not the other, so the two disagree on most men without either being wrong. And the sheet does not mark which future seasons are GUARANTEED — a club option and a projected arbitration award are both just a number here, so read past the end of the deal as his forecast rather than as money owed.
Two sources, read a month apart, put this guarantee at the same dollar. That is the check, and it passed.
The tax AAV above is his number under the CBA’s own rulebook, not the average we work out from Cot’s total. On a contract with deferred money the two come apart on purpose — and neither is subtracted from the other.
Collect Merrill Kelly
If the signal is right, the cardboard usually finds out later. Current listings:
Merrill Kelly cards on eBay →Paid link — as an eBay Partner, FVR earns from qualifying purchases.
Not financial advice. We take positions only after publication — never before. Misses stay on the record.
Umpire favor
-2.5 net runs over 25 graded games — the zone cost the umpire more than it gave, on balance.
The line
| Year | Team | Lvl | G | IP | W–L | SV | ERA | SO | WHIP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Arizona Diamondbacks | MLB | 32 | 183.1 | 13–14 | 0 | 4.42 | 158 | 1.31 |
| 2020 | Arizona Diamondbacks | MLB | 5 | 31.1 | 3–2 | 0 | 2.59 | 29 | 0.99 |
| 2021 | Arizona Diamondbacks | MLB | 27 | 158.0 | 7–11 | 0 | 4.44 | 130 | 1.29 |
| 2022 | Arizona Diamondbacks | MLB | 33 | 200.1 | 13–8 | 0 | 3.37 | 177 | 1.14 |
| 2023 | Arizona Diamondbacks | MLB | 30 | 177.2 | 12–8 | 0 | 3.29 | 187 | 1.19 |
| 2024 | Arizona Diamondbacks | MLB | 13 | 73.2 | 5–1 | 0 | 4.03 | 63 | 1.17 |
| 2025 | Arizona Diamondbacks | MLB | 22 | 128.2 | 9–6 | 0 | 3.22 | 121 | 1.06 |
| 2025 | Texas Rangers | MLB | 10 | 55.1 | 3–3 | 0 | 4.23 | 46 | 1.25 |
| 2025 | Total | MLB | 32 | 184.0 | 12–9 | 0 | 3.52 | 167 | 1.11 |
| 2026 | Arizona Diamondbacks | MLB | 25 | 141.2 | 9–12 | 0 | 5.08 | 95 | 1.48 |
| MLB CAREER | 197 | 1150.0 | 74–65 | 0 | 3.93 | 1006 | 1.23 | ||
Bio & season lines: MLB StatsAPI · refreshed nightly · abbreviations →