{"id":522878,"date":"2026-03-14T09:15:15","date_gmt":"2026-03-14T09:15:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/522878\/"},"modified":"2026-03-14T09:15:15","modified_gmt":"2026-03-14T09:15:15","slug":"diamondbacks-merrill-kelly-not-optimistic-to-start-season-on-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/522878\/","title":{"rendered":"Diamondbacks’ Merrill Kelly not optimistic to start season on time"},"content":{"rendered":"

SURPRISE \u2014 Arizona Diamondbacks starter Merrill Kelly made his 2026 debut in Friday\u2019s spring training game against the Kansas City Royals, but he said after the start that he \u201cwon\u2019t be ready to break camp.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite feeling fine during the outing, Kelly said he was not optimistic to avoid the injured list since a back issue delayed his first start by two weeks.<\/p>\n

\u201cAny time I think about Opening Day with the boys in L.A., the idea of maybe missing that is obviously not fun,\u201d Kelly said. \u201cOpening Day is special, especially in L.A. I think that\u2019ll be the first one I\u2019ve missed since my debut, if that\u2019s the case. Obviously, anytime you\u2019re away from the team and not enjoying being a part of it is obviously a little bit disappointing. But it\u2019s part of what we do and part of what we sign up for. I hope it shouldn\u2019t be too far after that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kelly stepped away from his throwing program early in camp due to back discomfort and was diagnosed with intercostal nerve irritation.<\/p>\n

He received a cortisone and lidocaine injection<\/a> and has progressed since, but the setback took him out of the running to make his highly anticipated Opening Day start, which would have been the first of his career.<\/p>\n

The question became whether he could push for the fifth spot in the rotation or start the season on the IL.<\/p>\n

Kelly delivered 36 pitches through 1.2 innings of work against the Royals after manager Torey Lovullo had said he would throw one inning with a chance to touch the second.<\/p>\n

Kelly said he did not think about his back while pitching, that he has some pitches to clean up but that\u2019s normal for a first outing. He allowed two runs and had a fun back-and-forth with former D-backs teammate Starling Marte for getting jammed but muscling out a single.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust get as ready as I can,\u201d Kelly said of his goal the rest of camp. \u201cMake sure now that we\u2019re,\u00a0in my mind, past the back stuff, I can focus on those couple of pitches that need a little bit of sharpening.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pushing Kelly\u2019s regular season debut back has to do with his build-up but also the roster implications.<\/p>\n

If the D-backs place Kelly on the 15-day injured list, they can back-date the designation by three days, allowing him to get ready for the start of Arizona\u2019s road trip at the New York Mets on April 7.<\/p>\n

He would miss the first three series of the season, which is 10 games, so essentially two starts.<\/p>\n

The Diamondbacks have starting pitching depth after bringing back Zac Gallen \u2014 who will start on Opening Day in Kelly\u2019s place \u2014 and signing veteran Michael Soroka.<\/p>\n

Starters are typically not fully built-up at the start of the season, so there is a risk of overusing the bullpen early on if Kelly could only get through four innings or so.<\/p>\n

\u201cRather than force it, I would say if we can\u2019t get to the point where he\u2019s built up \u2014 and it\u2019s looking like that might be the case \u2014 let\u2019s just wait a turn and not put a lot of strain or pressure on the bullpen,\u201d Lovullo said on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Follow @alexjweiner<\/a><\/p>\n

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