Merrill Kelly to make 1st Diamondbacks start of season Tuesday at Orioles

Merrill Kelly will make his regular season debut for the Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday at the Baltimore Orioles.

MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert first reported the decision, which has since been confirmed by the club.

Kelly, who was in line for his first career Opening Day start, has made two rehab starts since working back from back tightness that arose during spring training. When he took the mound for Triple-A Reno on April 3, he threw five shutout innings with just two hits and two walks allowed (72 pitches).

The righty then threw 83 pitches across six innings in an extended spring training start on Thursday, lining him up for the Tuesday start.

Arizona had announced a series rotation of Ryne Nelson, TBA and Eduardo Rodriguez for the trip to Baltimore.

Manager Torey Lovullo told reporters Sunday that “no decision has been made” regarding which pitcher will have to come off the 26-man roster to make room for Kelly’s return.

It pushes Rodriguez back one game from his last start on Thursday, the same day as Kelly’s extended spring training start, in which Rodriguez pitched six innings and gave up his only earned run of the season so far. The southpaw has a 0.50 ERA (third in MLB) with 11 strikeouts across 18 innings.

Kelly had a 3.22 ERA across 22 starts for Arizona in 2025 before he was traded to the Texas Rangers for pitching prospects Kohl Drake, David Hagaman and Mitch Bratt. Kelly returned to the team as a free agent on a two-year deal worth $40 million.

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