Ray Kerr’s postseason work for Atlanta has the calm of a pitcher who has already lived through the hard part. The left-hander has opened two Braves games this October, covering six scoreless innings with six strikeouts, after a route to the mound that ran through foster care, a movie-theater cleanup crew, a convenience-store job and a long recovery from Tommy John surgery.
Key takeaways
- Kerr returned from left elbow surgery in August and posted a 1.47 ERA across nine regular-season appearances for Atlanta.
- In two postseason opening assignments, he has not allowed a run over six innings while striking out six.
- The 31-year-old was signed by Seattle as an undrafted free agent after pitching at Lassen Community College and in Alaska.
- He made his Major League debut with San Diego in 2022 and appeared in 39 big league games from 2022 through 2024.
- His foster mother, Lisa McCarthy, backed his return to school and remains one of the central figures in his baseball life.
From Reno nights to the October mound
Back in 2015, Kerr and his older brother Richard were closing down the Legends IMAX in Sparks, Nevada. Richard swept popcorn and the debris left beneath theater seats. Ray cleaned the concession area after serving soda, candy and pretzels, occasionally helping himself to some candy along the way.
Ray was 21 and had walked away from Mendocino College in California, where he had been a promising two-way player. He wanted to be close to his family and friends in Reno, and the classroom side of college no longer held much appeal. He quit the gym, spent plenty of hours on Xbox and, in Richard’s words, was simply “living.” Richard believed then that baseball was over for his brother.
Yet the game kept finding its way back into the conversation. Friends would see the brothers in softball games, pickup basketball or other casual competition and wonder why two athletes with that kind of ability were not chasing something bigger. Ray also felt the absence of pitching. Years later, he described missing the real part of his life: standing on the mound.
The brothers’ childhood had not followed an easy line. Raised in Sacramento, California, they began playing baseball after their father enrolled them. Richard, who is 10 1/2 months older, played in a separate age group, while Ray quickly drew much of the family attention with his ability.
But their father’s legal problems disrupted their lives, and the brothers spent nearly two years living in a tent in their grandmother’s backyard. Their mother was largely absent. As they approached high school, their father woke them one night and told them to pack what they could. Richard fell asleep in the truck and woke up to snow: they had arrived in Reno.
The brothers eventually entered foster care there. At Hug High School, they found baseball again, though it was not a program with much profile. Richard said he did not even realize Hug had a team during his freshman year. Once the Kerr brothers joined it, their talent immediately changed the picture for a coach who suddenly had two players who seemed to have appeared from nowhere.
Both went on to Mendocino College in Ukiah, California, before returning to Reno in 2015. After the theater job, Ray worked at a 7-Eleven, stocking Monster Energy drinks and Gatorade in the cold refrigerator cases. For a time, he was sleeping on the couch of a friend and roommate named Dylan.
A second chance, then the long climb
Local semipro baseball provided the opening. Kerr pitched for the Reno Astros, and the feedback from teammates and opponents helped revive his ambition. Eric Perry, a friend of a friend who coached at Lassen Community College, encouraged the tall left-hander to return to school. Reno Astros owner Matt Konopisos also pushed him toward another chance.
McCarthy, the brothers’ foster mother and a lasting presence in their lives, made the decision easier. She told them she would cover their schooling if they wanted to go back. Ray accepted the offer.
At Lassen in 2017, Kerr went 7-4 with a 3.56 ERA in 13 starts. That summer, he headed to the Alaska Baseball League and handled a schedule filled largely with Division I competition, going 4-2 with a 1.11 ERA over 48 innings. Richard remembers his brother enjoying the whole experience beyond the ballpark, from fishing and shooting to seeing bears in the wilderness.
Konopisos later arranged a Mariners tryout. Kerr’s fastball had continued to gain life, and Seattle signed the 22-year-old as an undrafted free agent before assigning him to the Arizona Complex League.
Six seasons in the Minors followed. Kerr was traded from Seattle to San Diego, then reached the majors with the Padres in 2022. One of his first calls after hearing the news went to McCarthy, who said her heart was pounding and that she could not have been more proud.
He logged 39 Major League appearances from 2022 through 2024, with Atlanta acquiring him before the 2024 season. Then came Tommy John surgery and a rehabilitation process that stretched close to two years. There were moments when Kerr did not know whether he would ever again wear a Major League uniform.
He made it back in August, and the Braves have trusted him with October’s first inning. His emergence has reached beyond the clubhouse, with Derek Jeter among those discussing his story on television. Richard saw those clips and initially wondered whether they were real.
McCarthy has described watching Kerr’s career take off as something that fills her heart. Richard sees it through the full history of what the brothers endured. Before each game, he sends Ray the same kind of message: compete hard, remember who you are, and let every trip to the mound carry the weight of everything it took to get there.
For Kerr, that path has gone from a late shift at a Nevada movie theater to the postseason stage, with no wasted chapter in between.
