Torey Lovullo updates on Merrill Kelly’s injury status

Torey Lovullo provided another injury update for Merrill Kelly on Wednesday, noting that the righty will receive imaging on his shoulder later this week. If the MRI comes back negative, Kelly will begin a throwing program shortly thereafter, according to Lovullo.

Kelly was placed on the 60-day IL in the first week of May due to a right shoulder sprain. Before his injury, he was arguably the Diamondbacks’ strongest pitcher, boasting a 2.19 ERA across four starts. He struck out 21 batters over 24.2 innings and allowed two runs or fewer in each appearance.

Kelly is one of two Diamondbacks pitchers on the 60-day IL, the other being Eduardo Rodriguez, who has yet to make an appearance with Arizona since signing in December.

Without these two pitchers, the Diamondbacks have recorded the 23rd overall team ERA in Major League Baseball, worse than last season’s 20th ranking.

Two months into the season, Arizona has yet to have their starting rotation of Zac Gallen, Merrill Kelly, Eduardo Rodriguez, Jordan Montgomery, and Brandon Pfaadt all healthy at the same time.

Montgomery missed about a month at the beginning of the year, Rodriguez has missed the entire season, Gallen was out for two weeks, and Kelly has been sidelined for about a month.

Stay tuned for further updates.