Diamondbacks’ Merrill Kelly getting MRI for back tightness

SCOTTSDALE — Arizona Diamondbacks Opening Day starting pitcher Merrill Kelly will undergo an MRI for mid-back tightness, he said on Saturday.

Kelly was scheduled to throw to live hitters at Salt River Fields but had to step away after his session in the bullpen.

“We’ve been treating something, I guess in the mid-back you’d call it,” Kelly said. “Different days feel differently. I went to throw in the bullpen today, got to around pitch 10, started feeling little stuff and then like the last two or three, the sensation was enough that I felt it was time to shut it down.”

“Anytime somebody comes off the mound like that, the concern is legitimate,” manager Torey Lovullo said. “I appreciate that he didn’t try to go full throttle and get to that next level if there is anything wrong.”

Kelly said the tightness feeling showed up after his second bullpen of camp but that Saturday was the sharpest it felt. The veteran said he had never experienced the feeling in his back before.

He did not express a concern level before knowing more from the imaging.

“The last week and a half, I’ve been throwing, been doing everything normal and it didn’t rear its head until today,” Kelly said. “So I’m gonna take that as a good thing. …  I think until we get the image and until we can put a stamp on ‘this is what’s going on,’ then I don’t think we can properly evaluate.”

Kelly signed a two-year, $40 million deal to return to the D-backs this offseason, and the club announced shortly into spring training that he would start on Opening Day at Dodger Stadium. It is too early to know whether or not his availability for that is in jeopardy.

The Diamondbacks increased their rotation depth by bringing in Kelly, Michael Soroko and Zac Gallen this offseason, with Gallen returning five days into camp.

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