SAN DIEGO -- On Saturday afternoon, D-backs pitching coach Brent Strom was sitting in the visiting dugout at Petco Park talking about how happy he was that left-hander Joe Mantiply had been selected for the 2022 MLB All-Star Game.

Strom, one of the game's most respected pitching coaches, then brought up another Arizona pitcher.

"I thought Merrill Kelly deserved some consideration, too," Strom said.

Though Kelly often flies under the radar, the right-hander has been the D-backs' best starter so far this year, and he showed why once again Sunday afternoon when he allowed one run over six-plus innings in a 3-1 win over the Padres.

"He had a wonderful presence on the mound and he was upon the attack from the first pitch onward, and then turned it over to the bullpen and they were equally impressive," Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said.

Consistency is Kelly's biggest calling card and the thing he takes the most pride in. When he takes the ball, the D-backs know they can count on a solid outing, at the least.

Lately, it's been much better than that, as Kelly has allowed only six earned runs in 26 1/3 innings over his past four starts. He is 9-5 with a 3.26 ERA and a 1.21 WHIP through 19 starts.

"He's locked in," Lovullo said. "He's had a great year. He's thrown all his pitches, and he's been following a great game plan."

Kelly has also pitched into the seventh in each of his past four outings. And he's completed six innings in each of his past eight starts.

"That's good," Kelly said. "That means that I'm doing my job. And in my mind, that means I'm executing pitches. That means I'm getting ahead of people. There's a lot that goes into going deep into games, and I think that speaks to me more than just showing the stats of six to seven innings. Because if I'm going that deep, then that means I'm doing what I want to do."

Prior to the 2019 season, the D-backs signed Kelly to a two-year, $5.5 million contract that included club options for '21 ($4.25 million) and '22 ($5.25 million) after he spent four years in Korea. Impressed with his consistency over the first three seasons of the deal, the team signed the 33-year-old to a two-year extension this spring that will keep him in Arizona through the 2024 season.

With a host of young pitchers coming up through their system, the D-backs will look to Kelly to continue providing a steady hand over the next several years.