PHOENIX -- It’s not a setback, but Merrill Kelly's 2026 season debut for the D-backs has once again been pushed back.
After being announced as the club’s Opening Day starter on Feb. 14 before having the proverbial rug pulled from out under him due to intercostal nerve irritation a week later, Kelly set his sights on a Minor League rehab start to ramp up. He checked all the boxes in that first outing Friday for Triple-A Reno, but manager Torey Lovullo said Sunday morning that the next step would be for the 37-year-old to make another rehab start on Thursday in extended spring training.
“It's all predicated on health,” manager Torey Lovullo said. “That's it, plain and simple. [Kelly] feels great. I know that, but we want to make sure that we take care of our athletes, and when he steps back in, we want him for the rest of the year, the long haul.”
Kelly worked five scoreless innings for Reno while scattering a pair of hits and walks to go with two strikeouts. But most importantly, he built his pitch count up to 72 and faced 20 batters, while his velocity on all of his offerings was largely in line with where it sat last season.
Despite that, the club is choosing to exercise additional caution as it pertains to the right-hander.
“It's the buildup, it's the volume and just assuring us [he’s healthy] -- and I know he feels differently because he wants to go out there and compete,” Lovullo said. “We want to make darn sure so that we don't take any steps backwards.”
Since joining the D-backs in 2019, Kelly has served as the rotation’s steadying presence, having made 30+ starts in four of the six full seasons since then. His 172 games started and 1,008 1/3 innings both rank as the 16th-most in baseball since the start of that year. That dependability factored in when the club chose to re-sign him in December to a two-year, $40 million deal just months after he was dealt to the Rangers at the Trade Deadline.
“He's sharp,” Lovullo said of Kelly. “He wants to pitch. He wants to go out and compete. However, we feel like just coming back from an injury, this is the best thing for him. We're going to make sure that when he gets back here and arrives back into this mix, that he's here for another 30+ starts.”
Entering Sunday, D-backs starters ranked second in the National League with a 3.04 ERA and third in opponents’ batting average (.206). The group of Zac Gallen, Ryne Nelson, Eduardo Rodriguez, Brandon Pfaadt and Michael Soroka has proven rock steady against the lineups of the Dodgers, Tigers and Braves, all of whom rank in the top 10 in club OPS entering the day.
It begs the questions: What will the D-backs do with all of these starters? Is Kelly going out on a second rehab start a way to bide time one more turn through?
“No, it has nothing to do with it because Merrill is an elite pitcher,” Lovullo said. “When he's ready, and we feel like he's ready, his spot is waiting for him.”