Diamondbacks’ Merrill Kelly ruled out for Opening Day with back injury

SCOTTSDALE  – Diamondbacks pitcher Merrill Kelly will miss Opening Day with a back injury, manager Torey Lovullo said Wednesday.

Kelly, 37, was diagnosed with intercostal nerve irritation, but testing revealed no structural damage. 

Lovullo wouldn’t name a timetable for the right-hander’s return, but was optimistic that the former Arizona State pitcher would recover soon.

“That’s what we’re going to remain hopeful for,” Lovullo said. “He was out there actually throwing today. So once we got the news that he could resume certain baseball activities, we’re going to take advantage of that.”

Kelly signed a two-year, $40 million contract with the Diamondbacks last December, marking his second stint with Arizona after the Diamondbacks traded him to the Texas Rangers at the 2025 MLB trade deadline for pitchers Kohl Drake, Mitch Bratt and David Hagaman.

Although Kelly looked forward to taking the mound March 26 on Opening Day against the back-to-back defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers, the main thing he wants to focus on is getting healthy. 

“I had a little bit of a conversation with Merrill on that,” Lovullo said. “Of course, he’s a little bit bummed about that honor, but the most important thing is his health.”

Lovullo wouldn’t name an Opening Day starter yet, saying he wanted to make sure everyone gets a fair chance to compete for the spot. 

“I believe that everybody gets equal opportunity, but I balanced that out last year, and I can’t use my own evidence against me when I said Zac Gallen, with my history and my time with him, gave him the nod over Corbin Burnes,” Lovullo said. 

“I’ll add it all up, and I’ll put everything into my own personal hopper and then make that decision.”

The leading candidates to take the mound Opening Day for the Diamondbacks include Gallen and Ryne Nelson. Gallen started for Arizona on Wednesday in a spring training game against the Dodgers, finishing his inning with two strikeouts and only one hit allowed.

“I feel I’m in good shape, never really been in bad shape. But yeah, I just feel I’m in a really good spot,” Gallen said after his brief outing, throwing 23 pitches, 14 for strikes.

Gallen, who had a rough 2025 season, compiling a pitching-career worst in ERA (4.83), walks allowed (66) and WAR (1.1), said he wasn’t sure how many pitches he would throw in his next outing. 

“No idea,” he said. “Whatever the collaborative effort between the training staff, Torey and whatever we feel is the safest way to go about this thing.”

Nelson was one of the more consistent starters for the Diamondbacks last season, going 7-3 in 23 starts with career highs in strikeouts (132) and innings pitched (154.0).

Gallen was the Opening Day starter for Arizona in 2025, but arrived late this year to spring training due to contract negotiations. After officially re-signing with the Diamondbacks on Feb. 13, he has gotten up to speed quickly, Lovullo said. 

“It’s been going very well for him. He’s a very process oriented player,” Lovullo said. “He came in real good shape. I can tell that from when he was getting his workouts done. 

“The fact that it’s been two weeks since he signed, the fact that he’s turning around and he’s starting a game today, tells me that story in a lot of ways. I’m anxious to see what he looks like. We know very, very well he’s going to be on the attack for one inning, and then we’ll continue to build him up from there.” 

Other options for an Opening Day starter include free-agent signing Michael Soroka, who last pitched for the Chicago Cubs in 2025, and Eduardo Rodriguez, who had a 9-9 record and 5.02 ERA with the Diamondbacks last season. 

“The build-up portion of it is going to be important, and everyone is on the table right now, but I don’t know the answer,” Lovullo said.

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