Ray Kerr’s baseball career looked to be over before it had gotten very far.
He had gone to a community college after high school and played a couple seasons, but that’s when he left the game. He began to consider what might be next when his left arm no longer had a tiny white pearl to throw.
Kerr took a job at a 7-Eleven and a movie theater. He was a young adult with a future to consider.
And at the time, it seemed there was no way his future would hold a national television audience on a Thursday night as the savior of the Atlanta Braves‘ season.
Professional teams didn’t know about Ray Kerr.
Ray Kerr wasn’t even a baseball player anymore.
And then, well, Kerr grew into one of the best stories of this entire baseball season.
Because on Thursday night, Kerr walked off the mound in Atlanta to a major ovation. The Braves led 3-0, and he had just worked 3.1 scoreless innings in a surprise start against the Phillies in a game that could’ve ended Atlanta’s season.
The Braves play on into the NLDS, thanks in part to the fact that Kerr somehow, some way found his path back to a mound, back to baseball — and then through a long grind in the minor leagues that all led him here.
Ray Kerr was working at a 7-Eleven and a movie theater, thinking his baseball career was over.
Then he got signed for $2,000 and spent seven seasons in the minors.
He just dominated the Phillies over 3.1 scoreless in his first MLB postseason game.pic.twitter.com/pkQJb64B5f
— Front Office Sports (@FOS) October 2, 2026
Ray Kerr’s Baseball Origin Story
He played high school ball in Reno, Nevada, then went to play for two years at Mendocino College in California. He left baseball after that and worked multiple jobs away from the diamond.
Kerr was convinced by a new coach at another junior college, Lassen College, to play there — and his time there earned him a spot in the Alaska Baseball League, a summer league where he got up to 93 miles per hour on his fastball and got noticed.
The Seattle Mariners signed Kerr as an undrafted free agent in 2017.
It took Kerr five years in the minors, as well as a trade from Seattle to San Diego, to eventually get his debut.
Before Thursday night, Kerr had pitched 48 games in his MLB career across parts of four seasons with the Padres and Braves. Yes, he had made the major leagues, but he still didn’t seem likely to hold a featured role anytime soon.
Braves Move Pays Off
The Braves started Kerr because they wanted a lefty against the top of the Phillies’ order, which includes left-handed sluggers Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper.
No one outside the Atlanta dugout was expecting Kerr to get 10 outs before departing.
Yet in the end, it worked out brilliantly. He let the Braves bullpen work before handing the ball to surprise closer Chris Sale, and Atlanta gets to play baseball for at least a few more days.
Kerr wasn’t supposed to be here. But those are the best stories — against the odds in front of him, Kerr overcame. So what really were a few potent hitters standing 60 feet and 6 inches away from him? Kerr had quit baseball entirely once upon a time. A few big bats wouldn’t intimidate him now.
Braves’ Ray Kerr Shows Beauty of Baseball