PHOENIX — It's been more than three months since Arizona Diamondbacks fans have seen Merrill Kelly take the mound at Chase Field, but the wait appears to be over.
D-backs manager Torey Lovullo announced Friday that the right-hander will 'very likely' return from the injured list and start Sunday's game against the Philadelphia Phillies at Chase Field.
Lovullo broke the news on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM's 'Burns and Gambo' show.
"Very, very likely, correct" Lovullo responded when asked by Arizona Sports' John Gambadoro if it was likely that Kelly would start on Sunday.
"He's got to throw his bullpen today, he's here doing it at Chase (Field)," Lovullo said. "I had a good conversation with him about a half-hour ago, he feels great, looks great. He's up into that 75-80 pitch range, so, yeah, if you want to fire it downrange, you can, but we've got to make it official here. We'll get that word out as soon as possible once we determine how everything goes today."
Kelly showed that he was feeling good before Friday's game as he was seen by reporters taking ground balls at shortstop.
This would be the first time all season that the D-backs will have the starting rotation (Zac Gallen, Merrill Kelly, Eduardo Rodriguez, Jordan Montgomery and Brandon Pfaadt) that fans expected them to have at the start of the season. Every member of the rotation, except for Pfaadt, has spent some time on the injured list this season.
Kelly has been on the injured list since April 23 with a right shoulder strain. He originally felt some pain in his shoulder while playing catch at Oracle Field in San Francisco on April 20 and was placed on the 15-day IL three days later.
On May 2, he was transferred to the 60-day IL and started his comeback earlier this week when he made a rehab start with the D-backs High-A affiliate, the Hillsboro Hops.
The former Desert Mountain High School, Yavapai College and Arizona State pitcher started the 2024 season 2-0 with a 2.19 ERA in four starts before going down.
Arizona sports
The city of Phoenix is home to four major professional sports league teams; The NFL's Arizona Cardinals, NBA's Phoenix Suns, WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury and MLB's Arizona Diamondbacks.
The Cardinals have made State Farm Stadium in Glendale their home turf and the Footprint Center in downtown Phoenix is home to both the Suns and the Mercury. The Indoor Football League’s Arizona Rattlers play at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale.
Phoenix also has a soccer team with the USL's Phoenix Rising FC, who play at Phoenix Rising FC Stadium in Phoenix.
The Valley hosts multiple major sporting events every year, including college football's Fiesta Bowl and Guaranteed Rate Bowl; the PGA Tour’s highest-attended event, the WM Phoenix Open; NASCAR events each spring and fall, including Championship Weekend in November; and Cactus League Spring Training for 15 Major League Baseball franchises.
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