The Diamondbacks placed Merrill Kelly on the 15-day injured list this evening due to a shoulder strain. After tonight’s 14-1 drubbing of the Cardinals, manager Torey Lovullo said the Snakes expected Kelly to be out for an extended stretch.
“We’re not looking in terms of weeks as what we had hoped for,” Lovullo admitted (link via Theo Mackie of AZ Central). “So I think the next step up is a month, more than that.” While the manager said that surgery is not under consideration, he was noncommittal when asked if Kelly would be back before the All-Star Break.
It’s another hit to a rotation that’s already without Eduardo Rodriguez until at least the end of May. Arizona’s biggest offseason signee suffered a lat strain in Spring Training. A recent setback resulted in a move to the 60-day IL. The D-Backs subsequently signed Jordan Montgomery to offset some of the impact of losing Rodriguez, yet Kelly’s absence adds more uncertainty to what is arguably the team’s weakest area: rotation depth.
Zac Gallen, Montgomery and Brandon Pfaadt will hold the top three spots. Ryne Nelson opened the season in the rotation before taking a comebacker off his elbow and landing on the IL last week. Slade Cecconi and Tommy Henry seem like the top options for the #4/5 spots until Nelson returns. There’s very little experience behind them. Cristian Mena and Blake Walston are on the 40-man roster but have yet to make their MLB debuts. Humberto Castellanos and Konnor Pilkington have limited big league experience and are in the organization as non-roster players at Triple-A Reno.
No one from that group can be expected to come particularly close to matching Kelly’s reliability. The veteran righty has allowed fewer than 3.40 earned runs per nine while reaching 30 starts in each of the past two seasons. He’d gotten out to another excellent April, working to a 2.19 ERA in his first 24 2/3 frames.
The defending NL champs have had a pedestrian start overall, posting a 12-13 record. They’ll hope a talented lineup keeps them in the playoff mix until their rotation gets closer to full strength. Rodriguez and Kelly could be back well in advance of deadline season, but an extended absence from one or both may increase the pressure on the front office to upgrade the starting pitching this summer.
Losing Kelly doesn’t help their quest to get above .500 but they should be fine if Monty replaces Kelly’s previous production
Unless, of course, they aren’t.
Dang, the Dbacks have lost their SS, CF, closer, SP3, SP4 and SP5 before the end of April. Gallen and Montgomery need to be lights out every start and Pfaadt, Henry and Cecconi need to at least eat some innings and keep the team in the game as often as possible. All three of Pfaadt, Henry and Cecconi got the job done this week.
It’s worse than that, actually. They’ve also lost three other bullpen arms, their top prospect (Jordan Lawlar was on the postseason roster and could otherwise be helping with Perdomo’s absence) and an outfield prospect (Barrosa). 10 of 40 players on the roster are currently injured, plus another 2 on the 60-day IL. Most of these injuries are short-term, but the only one close to returning seems to be Sewald. They’re running out of roster spots!!
And yet, they’re treading water around .500, have the #3 point diff. (behind Cle, Atl) and the most runs scored in MLB. If they can get through this barrage of injuries without completely falling out of it, ya gotta feel good about what this team can do.
But at the same time, they’re treading water around .500, have the #3 run diff. (behind Cle, Atl), and have scored more runs than anyone. If they can get through this early barrage of injuries without falling completely out of it, ya gotta feel good about what this team can do.
Top 3 most overrated team. 78 wins.
Have you seen their run differential ???
+39 is a little deceiving after a 14-1 win and with a losing record. It’s still early. DBacks will stay in the wild card mix. Just get in.
Have you ever choked on a hotdog?
Time to kick the tires on Trevor Bauer?
Of course, now the Dodgers don’t have to face him next week and it’s another piece of the path of least resistance puzzle that is the NL West cakewalk for those buy-everyone dirtbags every year.
Yea they really dodged a bullet
Getting Jordan Montgomery looks even more vital at this point. The silver lining is this is happening in the beginning of the season and none of the injuries are season ending. If they stay above .500 and get healthy, they should be in great shape for a late season push with the young players getting more experience. This sucks but I am at least looking at the bright side.