Merrill Kelly was scheduled to start for the Diamondbacks against the Mets on Saturday night at Chase Field, with first pitch set for 7:15 p.m. ET in Phoenix. The right-hander entered the game with a 1-3 record and a 9.95 ERA.
The start came as Kelly tried to steady a season that had not gone his way. He had made four starts and logged 19 innings, but his 8.13 FIP, 2.316 WHIP and 42 ERA+ pointed to the same problem: opponents were finding too much success too often.
That is a sharp break from what Kelly did last year, when he made 32 starts between the Rangers and Diamondbacks and finished with a 3.52 ERA, 3.76 FIP, 1.114 WHIP and a 116 ERA+. He opened this season by holding the Orioles to two runs over 5 1/3 innings, but since then he had allowed 19 earned runs over 13 2/3 innings.
The contrast helps explain why this outing mattered beyond the box score. A pitcher who was reliable for most of last season was suddenly carrying a line that gave little margin for error, and the Diamondbacks were turning to him in a home game against a Mets lineup while he was still searching for something close to his old form.
Kelly’s next test was the same one he had been facing all month: whether one good start could reset a season that had already tilted the wrong way.
