Headlines

  • Yordan Alvarez To Miss Time With “Pretty Significant” Ankle Sprain
  • Giants To Promote Bryce Eldridge
  • Mets Moving Sean Manaea To The Bullpen
  • Blue Jays To Promote Trey Yesavage For MLB Debut
  • Dodgers Place Will Smith On Injured List
  • Dipoto: Mariners Interested In Re-Signing Josh Naylor
  • Previous
  • Next
Register
Login
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors
  • Pro Hockey Rumors

MLB Trade Rumors

Remove Ads
  • Home
  • Teams
    • AL East
      • Baltimore Orioles
      • Boston Red Sox
      • New York Yankees
      • Tampa Bay Rays
      • Toronto Blue Jays
    • AL Central
      • Chicago White Sox
      • Cleveland Guardians
      • Detroit Tigers
      • Kansas City Royals
      • Minnesota Twins
    • AL West
      • Athletics
      • Houston Astros
      • Los Angeles Angels
      • Seattle Mariners
      • Texas Rangers
    • NL East
      • Atlanta Braves
      • Miami Marlins
      • New York Mets
      • Philadelphia Phillies
      • Washington Nationals
    • NL Central
      • Chicago Cubs
      • Cincinnati Reds
      • Milwaukee Brewers
      • Pittsburgh Pirates
      • St. Louis Cardinals
    • NL West
      • Arizona Diamondbacks
      • Colorado Rockies
      • Los Angeles Dodgers
      • San Diego Padres
      • San Francisco Giants
  • About
    • MLB Trade Rumors
    • Tim Dierkes
    • Writing team
    • Advertise
    • Archives
  • Contact
  • Tools
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • 2026-27 MLB Free Agent List
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Agency Database
  • NBA/NFL/NHL
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors
  • App
  • Chats
Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Diamondbacks Could Pull Merrill Kelly From Rotation

By Connor Byrne | August 23, 2019 at 11:16pm CDT

With a team-high 26 starts, right-hander Merrill Kelly has been a staple in the Diamondbacks’ rotation this season, but he may be on his way to their bullpen. The Brewers steamrolled Kelly over 4 1/3 innings on Friday, scoring six runs on eight hits and four walks (with five strikeouts), and Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo suggested afterward they could pull him from their rotation, per Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic.

A former Rays farmhand, Kelly immigrated to Korea prior to 2015 and posted quality results in the KBO over the ensuing four seasons, which convinced the Diamondbacks to hand him a two-year, $5.5MM contract last December. Kelly has looked like a wise investment for most of 2019, evidenced by the 3.77 ERA he possessed as recently as July 18, but his output has declined since then. Having allowed six-plus earned runs in three of his past six starts, Kelly now owns a 4.86 ERA/4.77 FIP with 7.32 K/9, 2.58 BB/9 and a 40.7 percent groundball rate in 146 1/3 innings. Home runs have been particularly problematic for Kelly, who has surrendered 1.6 per nine and has given up two or more on four occasions since July 23.

Despite Kelly’s troubles in the past few weeks, he has still been a rare consistent presence in Arizona’s rotation thus far. The club traded ace Zack Greinke to Houston at last month’s deadline, leaving it with Kelly and the now-injured Robbie Ray as its only hurlers with 20-plus starts. The emergent Luke Weaver has been out since late May with forearm problems, meanwhile, and Taijuan Walker hasn’t pitched since early 2018 on account of Tommy John surgery and a shoulder strain.

The Diamondbacks are now down to Kelly, deadline acquisitions Mike Leake and Zac Gallen, and Alex Young in their rotation, though Ray could come off the IL this weekend. Even with Ray, that’s not the most inspiring group, which helps explain why the Snakes have faded from playoff contention as the season has progressed. They’re a game under .500 (64-65) and 5 1/2 out of a wild-card spot.

Share 0 Retweet 5 Send via email0

Arizona Diamondbacks Merrill Kelly

Brian Anderson Suffers Broken Bone In Left Hand
Main
Latest On Steve Pearce, Steven Wright, Heath Hembree
View Comments (5)
Post a Comment

5 Comments

  1. brandons-3

    6 years ago

    Just like Sony pulled Spider-Man from the MCU

    Reply
  2. PixelMelonz

    6 years ago

    I don’t think his issues are innings related if that’s the general idea here for the Snakes. He pitched just around 200 innings for three seasons or so in KBO. His ERA is likely just coming back down to earth and showing what he’s actually more likely to throw to in MLB. No need for panic for a team that isn’t likely to make the playoffs or make it very far in playoffs if they do happen to make it somehow. Just let him go pitch.

    Reply
    • sidewinder11

      6 years ago

      If AZ has to choose between giving innings to Kelly or someone like Duplantier, I’d take a latter. They don’t look like serious contenders for this year so let’s get a better look at some young kids

      Reply
  3. Paulie Walnuts

    6 years ago

    Handy writing tips:

    – Kelly did not “immigrate” to South Korea, the same as players from another country do not “immigrate” to the US to play Major League Baseball.
    – If he did, it would be “emigrated.”

    Reply
    • jorge78

      6 years ago

      Thanks Paulie!

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Please login to leave a reply.

Log in Register

    Top Stories

    Yordan Alvarez To Miss Time With “Pretty Significant” Ankle Sprain

    Giants To Promote Bryce Eldridge

    Mets Moving Sean Manaea To The Bullpen

    Blue Jays To Promote Trey Yesavage For MLB Debut

    Dodgers Place Will Smith On Injured List

    Dipoto: Mariners Interested In Re-Signing Josh Naylor

    Anthony Volpe Playing Through Partial Labrum Tear

    Orioles Promoted Mike Elias Prior To 2025 Season

    Anthony Rizzo Retires

    Cubs Place Kyle Tucker On Injured List

    Blue Jays Place Bo Bichette On Injured List

    Phillies Place Trea Turner, Alec Bohm On Injured List

    Sean Murphy To Undergo Hip Surgery

    Trea Turner To Undergo MRI Due To Hamstring Strain

    Davey Johnson Passes Away

    Mets Option Kodai Senga

    NPB’s Kazuma Okamoto, Tatsuya Imai Expected To Be Posted For MLB Teams

    Shelby Miller Likely Headed For Tommy John Surgery

    Red Sox To Place Roman Anthony On Injured List

    Lourdes Gurriel Jr. Diagnosed With Torn ACL

    Recent

    MLB Mailbag: Cardinals, Orioles, Astros, Schwarber, Casas

    Cardinals Shut Willson Contreras Down For Remainder Of Season

    Rays Select Cole Wilcox

    MLBTR Podcast: The Struggling Mets, Bryce Eldridge, And Trey Yesavage

    The Opener: Giolito, Raleigh, Cubs

    Cardinals Notes: Arenado, Donovan, Leahy

    Giants Notes: Roupp, McDonald, Crawford

    Cubs’ GM Carter Hawkins No Longer In Consideration For Nationals’ Front Office Job

    Poll: Can The Diamondbacks Push Their Way Into The Playoffs?

    Phillies Select Rafael Lantigua

    MLBTR Newsletter - Hot stove highlights in your inbox, five days a week

    Latest Rumors & News

    Latest Rumors & News

    • Every MLB Trade In July
    Trade Rumors App for iOS and Android App Store Google Play

    MLBTR Features

    MLBTR Features

    • Remove Ads, Support Our Writers
    • Front Office Originals
    • Front Office Fantasy Baseball
    • MLBTR Podcast
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • 2026-27 MLB Free Agent List
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Agency Database
    • MLBTR On Twitter
    • MLBTR On Facebook
    • Team Facebook Pages
    • How To Set Up Notifications For Breaking News
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors

    Rumors By Team

    • Angels Rumors
    • Astros Rumors
    • Athletics Rumors
    • Blue Jays Rumors
    • Braves Rumors
    • Brewers Rumors
    • Cardinals Rumors
    • Cubs Rumors
    • Diamondbacks Rumors
    • Dodgers Rumors
    • Giants Rumors
    • Guardians Rumors
    • Mariners Rumors
    • Marlins Rumors
    • Mets Rumors
    • Nationals Rumors
    • Orioles Rumors
    • Padres Rumors
    • Phillies Rumors
    • Pirates Rumors
    • Rangers Rumors
    • Rays Rumors
    • Red Sox Rumors
    • Reds Rumors
    • Rockies Rumors
    • Royals Rumors
    • Tigers Rumors
    • Twins Rumors
    • White Sox Rumors
    • Yankees Rumors

    Navigation

    • Sitemap
    • Archives
    • RSS/Twitter Feeds By Team

    MLBTR INFO

    • Advertise
    • About
    • Commenting Policy
    • Privacy Policy

    Connect

    • Contact Us
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS Feed

    MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

    Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

    hide arrows scroll to top

    Register

    Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version