Can Merrill Kelly shoot down the birds?
We finally got the update back on Ketel Marte’s MRI and it’s going to be a while: “a series of weeks,” according to manager Torey Lovullo. Whatever that means. He went on:
“There’s no timeline on it,” Lovullo said, calling the injury a Grade 1 strain. “We just gotta let him heal, let him recover and once we get to that point, we’ll start to initiate some baseball activities. I think the next couple days (he’ll) just get treatment, get some of that discomfort and that swelling out of there. And then once he gets to that point, I think they’re gonna get him on his feet and keep that arm going, the range of motion … let him take some swings, keep his swing plane going.”
The manager also said that Kendall Graveman and Kevin Ginkel both came through their 20-25 pitch bullpens yesterday cleanly. They are scheduled to throw another one on Friday, and it seems that Graveman is likely to be first back off the Injured List, though I imagine we’re still likely a week away or more. It helps that there’s less of a rush, because the Arizona bullpen has been keeping its end up. So far, they are 2-0 with a 3.38 ERA, good for 10th-best in the majors. It’s the rotation which has been the problem: as noted in last night’s recap, they’re 3-6, with a 6.27 ERA – ahead only of the Cardinals, Indians and Twins. Weird fact: the Rockies are currently second there, at 2.61 coming into play today. What the heck?
Hopefully, Merrill Kelly will get things going in the right direction for the D-backs. Like Gallen, he has had one good start and one stinker. My concern is that through nine innings, with 46 batters faced, Kelly has only struck out three – he has walked more than he has K’d in both of his appearances to date, not a recipe for success. A lot of fly-balls last time too: fifteen of the twenty-one balls in play, and three of those left the park. But maybe he’s going to do a reverse Gallen, and pitch better at Chase Field? Could do with getting back up to .500 quickly, and giving ourselves a chance at taking the series tomorrow afternoon.