Diamondbacks right-hander Merrill Kelly was scratched from his start in San Francisco this afternoon, with Kelly telling Steve Gilbert of MLB.com that he’s suffering from an injury involving his teres major strain. Nick Piecoro of The Arizona Republic adds that, per manager Torey Lovullo, Kelly has already undergone an MRI and is going to head back to Phoenix to be evaluated by team doctors. Piecoro adds that the club remains hopeful that the veteran hurler can avoid a stint on the injured list.
Missed time for Kelly would be a serious blow to the Diamondbacks’ rotation, which has already been without veteran southpaw Eduardo Rodriguez to this point in a season due to a lat strain. Losing Kelly, who sports a 3.26 ERA and 3.75 FIP over 67 starts dating back to the 2022 campaign, would compound the loss of Rodriguez and right-hander Ryne Nelson, who was placed on the injured list with a right elbow contusion last week. Kelly’s start this afternoon will instead go to right-hander Slade Cecconi, who posted a 4.33 ERA and 4.37 FIP in 27 innings of work for Dbacks last year.
If Kelly misses more than just today’s start, the club would likely need a fifth starter to go along with Cecconi, Zac Gallen, Jordan Montgomery, and Brandon Pfaadt. One possible option could be left-hander Tommy Henry, who has pitched 154 1/3 innings of work across 30 appearances with the Diamondbacks since his debut in 2022 but has generally struggled in those appearances. While he posted a roughly league average ERA of 4.15 with the club last year, he allowed 15 runs (14 earned) in just 18 1/3 innings across four starts in the majors this year and holds a career ERA in the big leagues of 4.84 with a 5.18 FIP.
More from around the NL West…
- The Dodgers are having some rotation issues of their own, with Bobby Miller, Kyle Hurt, and Emmet Sheehan all joining arms such as Clayton Kershaw, Dustin May, and Tony Gonsolin on the shelf in recent weeks. Of the club’s many injured starters, right-hander Walker Buehler appears to be the only one nearing a return, though even he won’t be an immediate solution to the club’s rotation puzzle. As noted by Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register, manager Dave Roberts recently told reporters that Buehler will make at least one more rehab start before returning to the big league club. Said start is scheduled for Wednesday, meaning the earliest Buehler could be expected to pitch in the majors would be April 29. In the meantime, the club figures to lean on right-hander Landon Knack to fill out the rotation alongside Tyler Glasnow, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, James Paxton, and Gavin Stone.
- The Giants placed right-hander Alex Cobb on the 60-day IL yesterday after the right-hander suffered a setback in his rehab from hip surgery earlier this week. While that news initially appeared to be somewhat ominous, Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area relays this afternoon that manager Bob Melvin told reporters that it’s “realistic” that Cobb could be activated as soon as he’s first eligible to return on May 27. That’s great news for San Francisco, as the club has leaned on Cobb more than any pitcher besides Logan Webb since he joined the club on a two-year deal prior to the 2022 season. In that time, he’s made 56 starts for the Giants while pitching to a 3.80 ERA with an even stronger 3.41 FIP. Young righty Keaton Winn has filled out the club’s rotation alongside Webb, Blake Snell, Kyle Harrison, and Jordan Hicks while Cobb has been out of commission.
Slade Cecconi is my favorite Sopranos character
Dbacks getting hit hard by the injury bug so far this season – Sewald, Kelly, Rodriguez, Nelson, Perdomo, Thomas – after being relatively injury free last year.
A contest I don’t want to win but Dodgers have ELEVEN on the IL.
Dodgers get: Taijuan Walker & Andrew Bellatti
Phillies get: Jason Heyward & Evan Phillips
The Phillies 5 has been the best rotation in baseball. Don’t mess with that, Taijuan still seems bitter about not appearing in the NLDS or NLCS last year. There has to be a market for him with all these starting pitching injuries. Same deal to the Angels for Carlos Estevez or to the BoSox for Kenley Jansen. Phillies could use another high leverage RH for the pen, and would free up long term salary.
No thanks.
Hard pass. Dodgers bullpen is bad enough WITH Phillips.
Phillips has a 1.04 ERA and 5 saves in 9 games. Treinen and Graterol on the way back from IL. Keep your overrated pieces.
Dodgers aren’t trading a valuable part of their clubhouse and their closer for two people over 30 who haven’t even pitched in the bigs this year. This is a pretty crazy idea of a trade. Why would the Dodgers want another oft-injured starter anyways
Sure, no closer for the Dodgers sounds great.
Is this a suggestion?
Counter offer…
No way in hell
Dear MLBTR writers,
I understand that you guys think the Cardinals are the most boring team in baseball, and maybe they are. But the Cardinals still have a huge fan base eager for any info about the team, however trivial or boring. Today they finally sent Victor Scott back to Memphis. An article detailing the roster transaction would be great. One article a week doesn’t seem like too much to ask. Thank you for your overall excellent work.
I’d also like to know what Lance Lynn eats for breakfast.
Mojo
It will be a shorter story to indicate what items Lance Lynn does not eat.
Point taken.
Too much
Don,
That’s a great and respectful post. I’m not a Cardinals fan, but I certainly wouldn’t mind more news about them. I’ll watch a Cardinals game on MLB.tv if there’s one available, I enjoy listening to Chip Carey and Jim Edmonds as their commentators. I can’t complain since I’m not even a subscriber, now even less so since my main account has been banned for some reason, but that’s my own gripe.
Thanks for the post regarding Victor Scott.
Root against the dirty birds, but agree with your post that is very newsworthy.
Jacob Young is having a nice season with the Nationals as speed guys go.
Here’s your article on Scott. He sucked.
Many position players want to be strong but I think some over do it in the off-season. Also muscle imbalance, not stretching enough and staying hydrated.
I realize players get advice from strength & conditioning coaches and may be following a specific plan but they need to maintain some flexibility and agility so they have better body control to avoid/minimize injuries. There is an optimal balance they need to maintain and some time for the body to rest.
It is definitely a counterintuitive approach but overall availability is important. Might be kind of a Zen less can be more strategy. I realize this is not an original idea.
Slade Cecconi looks great today, while Jordan Hicks looks well on his way to turning back into the pumpkin he’s been most of his frustrating career.
Lance is doing alright for you guys. Quite enjoyable to watch him the other day get pissed at a bunt and then take out his frustration by striking out the next two batters. He’s awesome when he gets fired up like that!
Nah. Hicks showed his mettle today. No command, didn’t have it. Gutted through 5 allowing one hit and one run. Good job, Jordan.
foppert2, Yeah. I was impressed how Hicks battled today despite not having his best stuff. That was a gamer effort. Too bad Miller blew Hicks’ chance for a W.
I thought so. Good signs everywhere for Hicks.
Dude has allowed one homerun in 28 IP… one.
@Don Are you watching Hicks today and if so which are you, drunk or blind?
Blunk & drind.
Rookie mistake trying to extract much from one so-so game. Today was Hicks’ 5th GS. In his first four he’s put up a 264 ERA+. I’m not saying Hicks is guaranteed to be a good SP this year. I’ll reserve judgement because it’s still early. And remember, even the best pitchers have a bad game every once in a while.
I’m not extracting it from one game. It’s a career pattern.
He needed 96 pitches to get through 5 innings and didn’t strike out a single hitter.
He did get a lot of ground balls and that saved him today. But over the course of a season you’re going to face teams who are swinging the bat better than these Diamondbacks. If you consistently fall behind in the count those get-me-over fastballs are going to get rocked. That’s been his career pattern. That’s what I saw today.
One hit, one run.
Totally worried about your delusional opinion.
Not.
Keep hoping.
5 starts. 0.93 WHIP. So Don, what’s a good whip? You’re the expert. Clue us in please. Let me help you. 1.00 is considered excellent. <1.00 is better than excellent. BTW, more Ks means more pitches so the fact that he's getting outs with less strikeouts (less pitches) is EVERY PITCHERS GOAL. What you said sounded good….to you.
But you are extracting from one game. You’re putting more importance on one start than the previous four. Hicks is not the same pitcher he was. People are always saying don’t pay a player for what he’s done in the past. Well, that works both ways. Don’t assume someone will always struggle, especially a pitcher, some of whom develop later.
He now throws his slider as more of a sweeper, and it’s been effective. The Giants have changed his pitch usage, throwing the FB less, and the split more. The split finger, which he throws for his change is superior to the change the Cards had him throwing. And over his first four starts he’s averaging less than 15 pitches per IP.
Besides the fact that Hicks’ attempt to start in StL, occurred during the lock-out year, the choice of change-up the Cards had him throw, it appears, IMO, that the Cards made a less than enthusiastic attempt to convert him to a SP.
It’s doubtful he’s simply reverting. The one caveat is him staying healthy. Time will tell, but if he does, then the Giants potentially have a solid starter.
I agree the Cardinals made a less than enthusiastic attempt to convert him to a starting pitcher and I was impressed with the splitter. It got him several ground balls.
Time will tell. I’m not wishing for Hicks to fail. I won’t be at all surprised if the Giants are able to get more out of him than the Cardinals. Everybody who leaves the Cardinals gets better.
Still, the pitcher I saw today was very much the same pitcher I’ve watched for years. His stat line from his most recent start also looked similar. It’s hard to succeed in the big leagues walking more guys than you strike out. Over the course of a season, that will catch up to you.
Try watching him pitch rather than looking at stat lines. He’s adjusted to starting very well. His fastball sits around 95, then he’ll reach back to hit 99 when he’s in a jam. He’s pitching to contact cause he’s got a good defense behind him
Logan Allen might get the start over Tommy Henry for the 5th spot.
Is anyone surprised that Blake Snell is the worst SP in MLB?
Yes. It’s entirely reasonable to be surprised. After all, he was the 4th highest FA on MLBTR’s list, and the 2nd highest pitcher. Are you claiming to have known all along that Snell would be bad?