Merrill Kelly’s last big league pitching appearance was on April 15, as the Diamondbacks right-hander looked terrific in his first four starts before being sidelined by a right shoulder strain. After almost four months on the shelf, Kelly now looks to be nearing a return, with manager Torey Lovullo hinting to reporters (including the Arizona Republic’s Nick Piecoro) that Kelly will be reinstated from the 60-day injured list in time to start on Sunday when the D’Backs host the Phillies.
It won’t be official until Kelly gets through a bullpen session slated for Friday, but as Lovullo put it, “you guys can read between the lines” about the team’s plans. “You get to a certain pitch count…when things get beyond three innings [in rehab starts], it gets real. We like when it gets in that 80-pitch range. We fire downrange when we’ve gotten into that spot before. So stay tuned.”
Kelly already passed the three-inning threshold in his first minor league rehab assignment last Tuesday, when he threw 62 pitches over four innings with the high-A Everett affiliate. Given both his long layoff and the fact that he has faced only A-ball competition, it is a little surprising that this will apparently be Kelly’s only rehab outing, but Lovullo said that “reports were really good” and that Kelly “did exactly what we wanted him to do.” The manager noted that Kelly would be on something of a limited pitch count on Sunday, in the range of 75-80 pitches as the D’Backs ease him into action.
Now in his sixth season with Arizona, Kelly has become a rotation stalwart for the Snakes, posting a 3.75 ERA over his 775 1/3 regular-season innings. The righty’s first MLB season (in 2019) saw him post 183 1/3 innings, and he then averaged 179 frames over the 2021-23 seasons, as Kelly missed a couple of months in that stretch with some relatively minor injuries but was otherwise a durable arm. He gained more national attention during the Diamondbacks’ run to the NL pennant last fall, posting a 2.25 ERA in 24 playoff innings.
With Kelly on the verge of returning and Eduardo Rodriguez making his season debut earlier this week, the D’Backs will finally have their first-choice starting rotation intact for the first time all season. Ironically, this reinforced rotation comes just as the team has taken a big blow behind the plate, as Gabriel Moreno was placed on the 10-day injured list on Tuesday with a left adductor strain.
Moreno will miss “several weeks” recovering, Lovullo told Arizona Sports (video link), and a more solid timeline could be known once the catcher “gets some second opinions” and a broader examination of his MRI results. While Lovullo didn’t give any indication that Moreno’s injury could end his season, such a possibility can’t be ruled out simply due to the calendar and the fact that Moreno looks to be out until September at the earliest. Any kind of setback could shut Moreno down entirely for the remainder of the 2024 campaign, and perhaps into whatever postseason activity could await the Diamondbacks.
The former star prospect has continued to impress in his second full Major League season, hitting .262/.344/.385 with five home runs over 314 plate appearances while delivering impressive defense. There wouldn’t have been an easy way for the D’Backs to replace Moreno even if he’d gotten hurt before the trade deadline, but if he is looking at an extended absence, the pickings are slim for the Snakes to bolster the catching ranks. Jose Herrera and rookie Adrian Del Castillo comprise Arizona’s catching corps, but Andrew Knizner was just claimed off waivers from the Rangers today to give the Snakes a bit more experienced depth behind the plate.
Kelly pitched for High-A Hillsboro against Everett, the Mariners Northwest League affiliate.
Keep Knizner at Reno unless he becomes absolutely necessary…..which I hope never happens.
I thought the Dbacks might try to re-sign Tucker Barnhart, before the Reds signed him. He was familiar with the Dbacks staff, which would have made him a more attractive emergency backup plan.
scottaz: Don’t give up hope. Barnhart seems very dfa-able.
You really like mediocre catchers, don’t you?
suffer
I don’t like mediocre players at any position on the Dbacks. I merely commented that in the search for emergencydepth for a very thin catcher core, the preference would have been a catcher with existing knowledge of the pitching staff. Del Castillo has almost no familiarity with the Dback’s pitching staff and that is a major problem in terms of calling the game and trust between pitcher and catcher. His only plus right now is the possibility that his bat will contribute to the team. Kinzner doesn’t even offer that. Barnhart would have been lightyears ahead of Del Castillo on familiarity with the pitching staff. That was my only point. I think Kinzner, Barnhart, Del Castillo and even Herrera are all mediocre catchers, and I don’t like any of them.
Geez, looked to me like the kid did a great job with some unfamiliar pitchers, while actually providing something that Barnhart couldn’t — offense.