Diamondbacks’ Merrill Kelly to pitch for Team USA in World Baseball Classic

Right-hander Merrill Kelly will pitch for Team USA in next spring’s World Baseball Classic, USA Baseball announced Thursday, making him the first Diamondbacks player to be named an official participant in the event.

Kelly, who turns 34 next week, is coming off a career year in which he logged a 3.37 ERA in 200 1/3 innings.

The WBC is a 16-team international baseball tournament, last held in 2017, the year in which the U.S. won their first tournament championship with an 8-0 victory over Puerto Rico. Prior to that victory, the U.S. had never placed higher than fourth.

The tournament returns in March 2023 after a five-year hiatus.

Lovullo said he, Kelly and General Manager Mike Hazen had conversations centered around the challenges of playing in the tournament at a time when pitchers are typically building their workload for the season.

“We presented those challenges; he knew them already,” Lovullo said. “But he wants to represent his country and we did not want to get in the way of that.”

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Lovullo said he is not yet sure how the team and Kelly will approach it, but once he has a firm idea of dates and innings expectations, the club will map out a throwing program that it hopes will put him in the best position to succeed and stay healthy.

“I know he’s excited about it,” Lovullo said. “The conversation that I had with him one-on-one was one that he would love to do it, but he just wants to make sure that he’s going to be in a good spot and built up and be safe.”

Kelly is the only Diamondbacks player to be named to a WBC roster, but several others are said to be under consideration.

Coaches returning

Lovullo said all of his coaches are expected to return for 2023, the first time that has happened during his six years on the job.

“We spend a lot of time trying to find the right blend of coaches,” Lovullo said. “And I think this is a very good group of coaches, and I want them all back. I'm pleased to tell you that they're all coming back.”

Most of Lovullo’s staff remained intact from 2017 to 2018 except for bench coach Ron Gardenhire, who departed to become manager of the Detroit Tigers. Every other year the club made changes, cycling through hitting, pitching and bench coaches.

“We spent a lot of time together grinding, trying to figure out ways to keep improving, and I watched this coaching staff coach as hard as they have in any year since I’ve been here,” Lovullo said. “It’s been a progression of understanding what my needs are, what my asks are, and them going out and executing.”

‘Mental makeup’

Lovullo said he wants to see his players develop a better mentality during games, something that he thinks will help them perform better when the game is on the line.

“There’s got to be a little shift in mindset,” Lovullo said. “We’ve got to go out there with an attitude that we are going to get it done. That’s something we’re going to hone in on this offseason. We’ve already begun talking about it as coaches. More of a mental makeup.”

He said he heard Suns coach Monty Williams talking about having enough “mental stamina” to allow a player to execute late in games. Williams’ words rang true to Lovullo.

“I don't know exactly what (Williams said), but a mental stamina exercise to challenge yourself mentally to be gassed up and ready for the hardest challenge,” Lovullo said. “That’s something that I want to bear down on this offseason and we’re going to talk about that through the course of spring.”

Reach Piecoro at (602) 444-8680 or nick.piecoro@arizonarepublic.com. Follow him on Twitter @nickpiecoro.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: D-Backs’ Merrill Kelly to pitch for Team USA in WBC