Diamondbacks' Merrill Kelly: Starting Wednesday for USA
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Kelly will start Wednesday against Colombia for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic, Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports.
It was originally reported Miles Mikolas would start Wednesday's game, but instead it will be Kelly on the bump in a must-win game for the United States. Mikolas will instead piggyback with Lance Lynn against Canada on Monday, per Katie Woo of The Athletic.
Kelly is experimenting with a slider this spring, Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic reports.
Kelly used the new pitch six times. Arizona manager Torey Lovullo believes Kelly's existing repertoire works but thinks the slider could be another option to get early-count outs or swing-and-miss strikes against right-handed hitters. "I think good pitchers and good players are always making adjustments. It was definitely something he brought into camp. He embraced it. We're going to watch him continue to work on it," the manager said. Kelly's existing arsenal consists of four-seam and two-seam fastballs, a curveball, a changeup and a cutter.
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Diamondbacks' Merrill Kelly: Makes spring debut before WBC
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Kelly allowed one run on two hits and two walks while striking out two over 2.1 innings in Friday's spring start against the Mariners.
Kelly made his Cactus League debut and only start before heading off to the World Baseball Classic. He was scheduled to throw three innings or 45 pitches but was pulled after 34 pitches and 1.1 innings. This being spring training, he was allowed to come back in the third inning and retired Seattle's 2-3-4 hitters on 11 pitches. Kelly's coming off his best MLB season in 2022 as he limited walks and long balls, but at age 34, he could be due for age-related decline in 2023.
Diamondbacks' Merrill Kelly: Quality start in Milwaukee
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Kelly did not factor into the decision Wednesday, allowing one run on four hits and two walks over six innings in a 4-2 victory over the Brewers. He struck out seven.
Kelly allowed only one extra-base hit in the form of a double from Victor Caratini and allowed his only run on an RBI groundout to tie the game in the fifth inning. The righty had struggled in the seven starts prior to this one, posting a 5.32 ERA over 44 innings. Still, it was a strong season for the 33-year-old, who finished with a 3.37 ERA, 1.14 WHIP and 177:61 K:BB across 200.1 innings.
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Diamondbacks' Merrill Kelly: Hit hard Friday
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Kelly (13-8) allowed eight runs on nine hits and two walks while striking out two over 4.2 innings, taking the loss Friday versus the Giants.
Evan Longoria took Kelly deep twice and Mike Yastrzemski added a home run and an RBI double, accounting for seven of the eight runs Kelly yielded. The eight runs allowed matched Kelly's season high from May 17 versus the Dodgers. Outings like this have been rare for the right-hander, who still has a 3.43 ERA, 1.14 WHIP and 170:59 K:BB through 194.1 innings across 32 starts. He's projected for one more start in 2022, which would be in Milwaukee next week.
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Diamondbacks' Merrill Kelly: Shooting for 200 innings
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Kelly is expected to get two more starts over the final nine games of the season, Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic reports.
Kelly fired seven innings Saturday, boosting his count to 189.2 for the season. He has a personal goal of reaching 200 innings, which was in jeopardy when manager Torey Lovullo went to a six-man rotation in September. However, following the game, Lovullo all but assured reporters that Kelly would get that chance. That suggests Kelly's schedule will be Friday at San Francisco followed by the season finale at Milwaukee on Oct. 5.
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Diamondbacks' Merrill Kelly: Goes seven innings in win
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Kelly (13-7) earned the win during Saturday's 5-2 victory over San Francisco, allowing two runs on four hits and one walk with six strikeouts in seven innings.
Kelly surrendered one run in the fourth inning to fall behind, but Arizona responded with all five runs in the bottom of the frame to halt his losing streak at two games. The 33-year-old fired 65 of 93 pitches for strikes with 13 of the swinging variety en route to notching six strikeouts for the third straight start and eighth time in his last nine turns. Kelly's ERA has risen from 2.86 to 3.13 during the stretch, though he's recorded 59 strikeouts in 57.1 innings compared to an 8.0 K/9 on the season.
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Diamondbacks' Merrill Kelly: Done in by Dodgers again
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Kelly (12-7) took the loss against the Dodgers on Monday, allowing five runs on eight hits and two walks while striking out seven batters over six innings.
Kelly managed to finish six frames for the sixth time in his past seven starts but couldn't end his woes against Los Angeles. The right-hander gave up a solo homer to Joey Gallo in the second inning and a three-run shot to Chris Taylor in the fourth to account for most of the damage against him. Kelly has a solid 3.15 ERA on the season, but against the Dodgers he's 0-5 with a 9.00 ERA over 22 innings across five starts.
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Diamondbacks' Merrill Kelly: Erratic in loss
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Kelly (12-6) took the loss during Tuesday's 4-0 defeat at the hands of the Dodgers, allowing three runs on five hits and five walks with eight strikeouts in five innings.
Kelly struggled with his control, firing only 50 of 96 pitches for strikes, but he was still able to induce a healthy nine swinging strikes en route to tying a season-best eight strikeouts. The 33-year-old also issued a season-high five walks; however, none came around to score as all three runs were the result of Joey Gallo and Freddie Freeman long balls. That's now consecutive subpar outings for Kelly, who's surrendered seven runs across 12 innings in his last two turns.
