Joe Kelly will make his first World Series start in Game 3 on Saturday against the Red Sox, but the 25-year-old will be spending his Friday night the way many 25-year-old guys do — playing video games.
The right-hander told reporters on Friday after the team’s workout what his pregame plan is.
“I’m more of a first-person shooter guy,” he said via Yahoo! Sports.
“To tell you the truth, I don’t really like to lock in and focus on my start until the day of,” Kelly said. “Like the night before, I usually stay up playing video games all night, competitive gaming, more Call of Duty. But like you said, you don’t want to put too much emphasis and just mentally drain yourself of thinking, ‘man, this is a huge start, and you have to go out there and perform.'”
Kelly is 0-1 this postseason with a 4.14 ERA through 16.1 innings. He said focusing on the make-believe world of Call of Duty before a game helps him to relax.
“It helps me not to think about anything else except for going out and competing.”
For any fans looking to compete against Kelly in a realm where they might be more evenly matched than on the baseball diamond, Kelly’s COD username is ‘equinsu ocha 3,’ — an obscure reference to the movie Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls.
