Down on the Farm with Levi Kelly
I was able to meet up and interview Levi Kelly, the Arizona Diamondback’s 8th round draft pick in 2018 out of IMG Academy. Levi is considered to be one of the Diamondbacks top pitching prospects.
While he was at IMG Academy, Kelly played with one of his current Kane County teammates Blaze Alexander, who I was able to interview a couple of months ago. Check out my chat with Blaze here.
This year, Levi Kelly has had a tremendous season, especially for a pitcher who was drafted out of high school just a year ago. Kelly started the year off with Kane County, his first full season league, and he has pitched like an ace, putting up a record of 5-1 to go along with a 2.15 ERA and he struck out 126 batters over 100.1 Innings to help lead a Kane County Cougars team that was extremely competitive in the Midwest League.
Kelly also posted a 1.106 WHIP with a 3.23 to 1 strikeout to walk rate. His fastball sits about 92-93 and he shows good command of it to go along with what could become plus control as he continues to develop, he also throws a 82-83 mph slider that could develop into a plus pitch as well. Levi Kelly is a favorite for the Arizona Diamondbacks minor league Pitcher of the Year award. I was very excited to be able to speak with him:
JW: Who was your favorite player to watch growing up?
LK: Growing up it was Noah Syndergaard but now I’ve switched over to Trevor Bauer just because he’s unique and does his own thing. So I think it’s pretty cool for a guy to do his own thing and have success.
JW: Do you try to model your game after anybody?
LK: I try to do some things like Trevor Bauer but not to the extremes that he does.I think more with our mechanics and I try to do research on the arm like biomechanics, and how it’s engineered to be successful.
JW: What’s your favorite thing about the game of baseball?
LK: Competition. Baseball, football, all the sports I played growing up I just loved competition, I was just better at baseball so I stuck with that.
JW: What got you interested in the game of baseball?
LK: I started playing it ever since I was young but I started to take it more seriously around 8th or 9th grade. I played football seriously as well and around 9th grade I had to choose one or the other and I chose baseball, I still miss football, but everything has worked out so far.
JW: What inspires you to do your best?
LK: People that can’t play the game because I know there are alot of people who would love to be out here but can’t. There are people with disabilities that come and watch the game and it means something to me to be able to appreciate my opportunity, knowing the fact that not everybody can do what they would like to be able to do. I feel blessed with this opportunity it makes me appreciate it that much more.
JW: What’s one of the things that your working on to improve?
LK: Staying within myself, sometimes I get a little too amped up, a little too excited.
JW: What’s one part of your game you take pride in?
LK: I love my competitiveness and my aggressiveness.
JW: What’s your favorite movie?
LK: American Sniper. I’m big into the military because my dad served and if I weren’t playing baseball I would probably be serving right now.
JW: What’s your favorite food?
LK: Sushi.
JW: What’s your favorite kind of music?
LK: I listen to everything, I’m not a big rap guy, I’m more country being from West Virginia, then pregame usually gets a little heavier on the metal side of things. Mostly country.
JW: What are some of your interests outside of baseball?
LK: I love the outdoors so hunting and fishing. I try to do as much as I can back home with my brother in youth ministry. When I’m in Florida, I’m fishing. When I’m in West Virginia I’m hunting.
JW: If you could be any superhero or have any superpower what would it be?
LK: Right now it would be to read people’s minds to see what they are all thinking about me. I would also like to be able to go either backwards or forwards in time.
JW: What’s something that people might not know about you?
LK: I can play a few different instruments, nothing great, but I like to play piano a little bit.
