First, it was a six-week replacement stint in Korea with a $100,000 contract. Now, a year and a half later, Ryan Weiss is about to make a leap that is going to change his career forever. The right-handed pitcher, who has never played in the majors, just finished his second KBO season with the Hanwha Eagles and is reportedly close to signing with the Houston Astros, a contract that will be close to $4 million.

A recent update by baseball insider Daniel Kim on X suggested this latest development. “I heard that Ryan Weiss is close to signing a major league contract with the Houston Astros. The right-handed pitcher just finished his second KBO season with the Hanwha Eagles. He recorded 16 wins, 5 losses, an ERA of 2.87, and 207 strikeouts,” Kim wrote. “If he goes to the Major League, he would be capable of playing as a bullpen pitcher or even as a spot starter when there is a starting pitcher gap.”

So, if the deal goes through for Weiss with the Astros, he would be joining the ranks of Merrill Kelly, as he, too, had taken a path similar to Weiss. Like Kelly, Weiss too had no major league experience before venturing to Korea. He was pitching for the High Point Rockers in the US independent league before he was discovered by the Hanwha Eagles in June of last year as a temporary replacement for Ricardo Sanchez.

Sanchez was sidelined by an elbow injury, and Weiss stepped in as a six-week replacement with a contract worth $100,000 and a signing bonus of $12,000. But Weiss quickly exceeded expectations. In his debut against Doosan on June 25th, he delivered a six-inning shutout with seven strikeouts, and later struck out 12 batters in a single game against SSG. Hanwha extended his contract for the rest of the season, paying him an additional $260,000.

Last year, Ryan Weiss pitched 16 games, posting a 5-5 record with a 3.73 ERA and 98 strikeouts. Despite only being there for half the season, Weiss was one of the standouts, and Hanwha re-signed him for $950,000 ahead of this season. And this year, he impressed again with 178.2 innings pitched, 207 strikeouts, and a 2.87 ERA in 30 games.

Ryan Weiss ultimately helped Hanwha finish second in both the regular season and the Korean Series, transforming a team historically stuck in the bottom half. FanGraphs, a statistical media outlet, gave Weiss an FV of 40, stating, “He dominated the 2025 postseason as a bullpen pitcher, boasting a fastball that reached 154-156 km/h (approx. 96-97 mph) with good reverse spin and a slider in the mid-130s.”

Standing at 193cm (6-foot-4) tall, Ryan Weiss boasts a fastball exceeding 150km/h (approx. 93mph) and a sweeper, but earlier big league teams didn’t pay attention. But now, it appears that he is finally gaining the attention he deserves, following a path similar to Merrill Kelly, who also used success in the KBO to launch his MLB career.

Following in Merrill Kelly’s Footsteps

Merrill Kelly’s journey to MLB success began in the KBO League, where he played four seasons with the SK Wyverns (now SSG Landers) after entering professional baseball without any Big League experience. Over 119 appearances, he recorded 48 wins, 32 losses, a 3.86 ERA, and 641 strikeouts, including a league-high 189 strikeouts in 2017.

In his final KBO season in 2018, Kelly led his team to a second-place regular-season finish, posting 12 wins, 7 losses, and a 4.09 ERA, and contributed to the Korean Series championship with one win and a 2.19 ERA. Then, after the 2018 season, Kelly moved to the Major Leagues, signing a two-year, $5.5 million contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks. Earlier this year there was talk about him jumping ship as the Toronto Blue Jays showed some interest.

In his MLB debut season, he recorded 13 wins, 14 losses, and a 4.42 ERA, proving that success in Korea could translate to the Big Leagues. Now, in over nine MLB seasons, Kelly has made 172 starts with 65 wins, 53 losses, a 3.77 ERA, and 911 strikeouts. He remained a reliable rotation piece, with notable seasons including 13–8 in 2022 and 12–8 in 2023. Before moving from Arizona to Texas this year, he had finished 12–9 with a 3.52 ERA across 32 starts.

Now 37, Merrill Kelly aims to re-evaluate his value in MLB, with projections suggesting he could secure a contract worth $30–40 million over two years. Despite being traded to the Rangers last year, Kelly has expressed willingness to return to Arizona, the team that first gave him his Major League opportunity and signed him to a three-year, $24 million extension in April 2022. With the Diamondbacks in desperate need of starting pitching, a reunion with Kelly could be a logical move for both sides.