Diamondbacks Fight for Playoff Lives Behind Merrill Kelly

His season began with a nerve/lower back injury and an IL stint. He returned after an abbreviated rehab stint to post some very alarming numbers to start the season in his first four starts. He settled down somewhat after that. That included his first ever Complete Game, which came against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field.

Now Kelly returns to Coors field Wednesday night, September 23 to face the Rockies in a must-win game with a 9-14 record and 5.00 ERA

He'll be opposed by the Rockies Mason Adams , a rookie making his sixth Major League start. He's 0-1 with a 5.09 ERA in 23 innings. The 26-year old right-hander was drafted by the Chicago White Sox in the 13th round of the 2022 draft. He was traded to Colorado just this past traded deadline for Brenton Doyle

D-backs Lineup

The Diamondbacks are going with their left-hand batter heavy lineup against Adams, featuring Lars Nootbaar in left and leading off. Pavin Smith is back in the lineup at first base, and Jesus Sanchez is the DH. Also notable is the fact that Tim Tawa continues to be chosen over Jordan Lawlar to get starts in centerfield versus right-hand pitching.

Playoff Picture

The Diamondbacks have two extremely narrow, but potential pathways to reach the Postseason. with five games remaining, (two versus Colorado and three versus the Padres). That begins with Wednesday and Thursday games in Colorado of course. They must take care of business and sweep this series to have any chance at all.

The D-backs trail both the Phillies and Padres by four games. Arizona's Wild Card Elimination number versus the Philadelphia Phillies is 2, meaning any combination of Phillies wins and D-backs losses totaling two would eliminate any chance for the D-backs to catch the Phillies.

The second is versus the Padres, against whom their elimination number is also two. It's the same, any combination of D-backs losses and Padres wins equaling two means the D-backs can no longer catch the Padres.

There is an intriguing scenario whereby if the D-backs can somehow pick up one game on the Padres, and hold that space, or even get to two games back of San Diego, that would make it possible to beat the Padres head to head to get into the dance.

But in either case, whether two games back or three games back, the D-backs would have to sweep in San Diego over the weekend. Friday night's starter lines up to be Brandon Pfaadt, although that is not yet official.