Diamondbacks Activate Merrill Kelly
The Diamondbacks have reinstated Merrill Kelly from the COVID-19 injured list. He’ll get the start this evening against the Dodgers, his first action in a month after he tested positive for the coronavirus. Tyler Gilbert was placed on the 10-day injured list with elbow fatigue in a corresponding move.
Kelly has been one of the D-Backs’ most reliable starters this year. While his promising 2020 campaign was cut short by thoracic outlet syndrome, the 32-year-old has bounced back and remained durable until his positive COVID diagnosis. Kelly has tossed 142 1/3 frames over 24 starts, working to a 4.30 ERA. He’s not missed many bats, but Kelly’s a great strike-thrower and has induced grounders at a roughly league average rate en route to solid production.
The final few weeks will offer Kelly an opportunity to make a handful of starts and hopefully demonstrate he’s returned to prior form after a month away. His contract contains an eminently affordable $5.25MM club option, which looks like a lock to be exercised. At that point, Kelly would become one of the offseason’s more notable trade candidates, with the Diamondbacks unlikely to compete next season. Plenty of more immediate contenders could use the affordable, mid-rotation stability Kelly brings and seem likely to be in contact with the Arizona front office over the winter.
To open space on the 40-man roster, the D-Backs recalled minor league reliever Kevin Ginkel and placed him on the major league 60-day injured list due to right elbow inflammation. The move officially ends his season, but Ginkel will pick up MLB service time and pay for the final few weeks. The 27-year-old has been up-and-down over the past three years, combining for a 4.72 ERA over 68 2/3 big league frames.
Diamondbacks Select Tyler Gilbert
The Diamondbacks announced they’ve selected the contract of pitcher Tyler Gilbert. Southpaw Miguel Aguilar was optioned to Triple-A Reno in a corresponding move.
It’s the first big league call for Gilbert, a 27-year-old southpaw. A sixth-round pick of the Phillies out of USC in 2015, Gilbert spent his first few professional seasons in the Philadelphia organization. The Phils traded him to the Dodgers for Kyle Garlick in February 2020, but he never appeared in a game for a Los Angeles affiliate due to last year’s canceled minor league season. The D-Backs selected Gilbert in the minor league phase of the Rule 5 draft over the offseason.
He’s spent the year to date with Reno, making eleven appearances (ten starts). Over 52 1/3 innings, Gilbert has a 3.44 ERA with decent strikeout and walk rates (22.8% and 8.7%, respectively). That’s deceptively strong production in the supercharged Triple-A West environment. Among the 26 pitchers with 50+ innings in the league, only one (Drew Anderson) has a better ERA than Gilbert. That quality work in the high minors will earn him a look from a D-Backs team that has little reason not to give opportunities to potential long-term members of the pitching staff.