Diamondbacks’ Merrill Kelly scratched from start with shoulder injury
Right-hander Merrill Kelly of the Diamondbacks was withdrawn from his Sunday afternoon start in San Francisco. Kelly informed MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert that he was dealing with a severe strain in his teres major.
According to manager Torey Lovullo, Kelly has already had an MRI and is returning to Phoenix to be assessed by team physicians, according to Nick Piecoro of The Arizona Republic. Piecoro continues, saying that the team is still hoping that the seasoned pitcher can avoid going on the disabled list.
The Diamondbacks’ rotation, which has already been without seasoned southpaw Eduardo Rodriguez this season due to a lat strain, would suffer a significant blow if Kelly missed time.
Losing Kelly would add to the losses of Rodriguez and right-hander Ryne Nelson, who was placed on the injured list last week due to a right elbow strain. Kelly has a 3.26 ERA and 3.75 FIP across 67 starts dating back to the 2022 campaign. Slade Cecconi, a right-hander who pitched 27 innings for the D-backs last season and recorded a 4.33 ERA and 4.37 FIP, started for Kelly on Sunday afternoon.
The team would probably require a fifth starter in addition to Cecconi, Zac Gallen, Jordan Montgomery, and Brandon Pfaadt if Kelly misses more than just Sunday’s start.
Tommy Henry, a left-hander who has made 30 appearances with the Diamondbacks since his debut in 2022 and pitched 154 1/3 innings of work, is one potential possibility. However, Henry has not always been successful in those appearances. Despite having a 4.15 league average ERA with the team the previous season, he gave up 15 runs (14 earned) in just 18 1/3 innings over his four major league starts this year. He now has a 4.84 career ERA in the majors with a 5.18 FIP.
Additional updates from the NL West:
The Dodgers are facing their own rotation problems as Bobby Miller, Kyle Hurt, and Emmet Sheehan have just joined Clayton Kershaw, Dustin May, and Tony Gonsolin on the disabled list. Walker Buehler, a right-hander, is the only one of the team’s numerous injured starters who looks to be getting closer to returning, though even he won’t solve the rotational dilemma right away.
Manager Dave Roberts recently informed reporters that before rejoining the major league team, pitcher Max Buehler will make at least one more rehab start, as reported by Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register. With the start date set for Wednesday, Buehler’s earliest major league appearance would be on April 29. Right-hander Landon Knack is expected to be relied upon by the team to complement Tyler Glasnow, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, James Paxton, and Gavin Stone in the meantime.
After experiencing a setback in his recovery from hip surgery earlier this week, right-hander Alex Cobb was placed on the 60-day injured list by the Giants on Saturday. While the news seemed concerning at first, manager Bob Melvin told reporters that it’s “realistic” that Cobb might be activated as soon as he’s first eligible to return on May 27, according to Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area on Sunday afternoon. That’s excellent news for San Francisco, as since Cobb signed a two-year contract before the 2022 season, the team has relied on him more than any other pitcher save Logan Webb.
He has made 56 starts with the Giants over that period, pitching to an even better 3.41 FIP and 3.80 ERA. While Cobb has been out of commission, young righty Keaton Winn has filled in for Webb, Blake Snell, Kyle Harrison, and Jordan Hicks in the club’s rotation.