SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- How much time right-hander Merrill Kelly will miss to begin the 2026 season remains unknown, but one thing that is for certain is that he will not get the ball for the Diamondbacks on Opening Day as planned.
Kelly was scratched from a live batting practice session on Saturday after experiencing left mid-back tightness. He had at least one MRI, a CT scan and other tests since and the team is officially calling it an intercostal nerve irritation.
Kelly played catch Wednesday, the first time he's thrown since being scratched, and while he did not experience the same level of pain as Saturday, there's a big difference between lightly playing catch and throwing competitive pitches off a mound.
"We've done pretty much every test under the sun that we can think of and everything's coming back clear, which is a positive," Kelly said. "Structurally wise. We've looked at the spine, we've looked at the ribs, we've looked at the muscles, we've looked at the tendons, we've looked at everything back there, and that's all coming back good, which is a positive, obviously, but there's still something going on back there. Still feel something. So we're just trying to turn over every rock and kind of look wherever we can to see what we can figure out about it."
How long Kelly will be out is unknown, but just missing a week or two of camp takes him out of being ready for Opening Day.
That is a tough blow for the 37-year-old, as it was going to be his first -- and perhaps only -- opportunity to start an opener.
“I saw it as kind of my one shot to throw Opening Day," Kelly said. "And obviously that's disappointing, but injuries are part of it, and all I really care about at this point is being able to throw again and then be ready for the team whenever, whether it's Opening Day or the last game of the rotation, doesn't really matter at this point as long as I'm back for it."
Lovullo declined to speculate on a possible timeline for Kelly's return. Kelly was re-signed by the Diamondbacks in December to a two-year, $40 million deal after being dealt to the Rangers at the Trade Deadline last season.
While Kelly said they've run all the tests they know how, he did indicate there was something else they could try.
"We've got an idea of what to do next," Kelly said. "I'm not going to speak too much on that right now, just because we want to see if it works before we kind of dive into all that we're doing. But we do have a direction that hopefully will be taking place in the next couple days, but so far, that's really all I'm going to elaborate on."
The club hopes to have more clarity soon, but should it be something that causes Kelly to miss time, Arizona does have some starting pitching depth thanks to the recent re-signing of Zac Gallen.
Gallen, who was signed four days into camp, gave the Diamondbacks six veteran starters including Kelly, Ryne Nelson, Eduardo Rodriguez, Brandon Pfaadt and Mike Soroka, who was signed as a free agent at the Winter Meetings.
Lovullo will wait to name an Opening Day replacement for Kelly, but Nelson seems like a logical choice. Gallen might normally be the replacement -- and he is on track to be ready for the start of the season -- but he is slightly behind the other starters since he missed a few days of camp, so an Opening Day start might be pushing it.
"We’ve got five other candidates, and we’re going to take a look at it," Lovullo said. "It’s wide open."