{"id":665133,"date":"2026-04-05T19:45:14","date_gmt":"2026-04-05T19:45:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/665133\/"},"modified":"2026-04-05T19:45:14","modified_gmt":"2026-04-05T19:45:14","slug":"merrill-kelly-to-make-1-more-rehab-start-before-return","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/665133\/","title":{"rendered":"Merrill Kelly to make 1 more rehab start before return"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>PHOENIX \u2014 Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Merrill Kelly will make one more rehab start before returning to the rotation, manager Torey Lovullo said on Sunday.<\/p>\n<p>Kelly\u2019s next start will be in extended spring training on Thursday as he continues to work back from intercostal nerve irritation in his back.<\/p>\n<p>The Diamondbacks announced the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlb.com\/dbacks\/roster\/probable-pitchers\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">probable pitching rotation<\/a> for their upcoming series at the New York Mets without Kelly apart of it. Zac Gallen will start the series opener on Tuesday, followed by Ryne Nelson and Eduardo Rodriguez, as the D-backs are staying in order.<\/p>\n<p>Kelly is eligible to come off the injured list in time to start Wednesday\u2019s game, but it looks like the Baltimore Orioles series to end Arizona\u2019s road trip is where he now lines up for if everything goes according to plan.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe reason is\u00a0we have all felt\u00a0that this is the best thing for\u00a0Merrill and his long-term health,\u201d Lovullo said. \u201cEnd of story. That\u2019s it.\u00a0He\u2019s ready. He\u2019s sharp.\u00a0He wants to pitch. He wants to go out and compete. However, we feel\u00a0like coming back\u00a0from an injury, this is the best\u00a0thing for him.\u00a0We\u2019re going to make sure that\u00a0when he gets back here and arrives back\u00a0into this mix,\u00a0that he\u2019s here for another 30-plus\u00a0starts. That\u2019s it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The veteran right-hander was picked to start on Opening Day before back tightness caused him to miss time in spring training. He made a rehab start on Friday for Triple-A Reno, throwing five shutout innings with 72 pitches.<\/p>\n<p>The D-backs would like to see Kelly continue to increase his pitch count for another outing.<\/p>\n<p>The Diamondbacks\u2019 starting rotation has actually been a strength of the team so far this season, even without Kelly or ace Corbin Burnes (recovery from Tommy John surgery).<\/p>\n<p>Arizona entered Sunday with a 3.04 ERA from starting pitchers through nine games, as <a href=\"https:\/\/arizonasports.com\/mlb\/arizona-diamondbacks\/michael-soroka-braves\/3616854\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Michael Soroka<\/a> and Rodriguez have combined for 22 innings and one earned run.<\/p>\n<p>Lovullo said that was not a factor in the decision to push Kelly back a start.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMerrill is an elite pitcher, he\u2019s really good, so when he\u2019s ready and we feel like\u00a0he\u2019s ready, his spot\u2019s\u00a0waiting for him,\u201d Lovullo said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Moving back Kelly also pushes back the decision for whose spot in the rotation he will take.<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"twitter-follow-button\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/alexjweiner\" data-show-count=\"false\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">Follow @alexjweiner<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/arizonasports.com\/arizona-sports-newsletter-signup\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/AZSportsEmail-830x100-1.jpg\" style=\"margin: 0 auto;\" class=\"mobile-signup\"\/>\t&#13;<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/AZSportsEmail-830x100-1.jpg\" style=\"margin: 0 auto;\" class=\"desktop-signup\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>                    <script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PHOENIX \u2014 Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Merrill Kelly will make one more rehab start before returning to the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":665134,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2404],"tags":[146,22,4314,5,38,4],"class_list":{"0":"post-665133","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arizona-diamondbacks","8":"tag-arizona","9":"tag-arizona-diamondbacks","10":"tag-arizonadiamondbacks","11":"tag-baseball","12":"tag-diamondbacks","13":"tag-mlb"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/665133","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=665133"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/665133\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/665134"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=665133"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=665133"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=665133"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}