Merrill Kelly and Justin Verlander Face Off in Final Spring Tuneups

A matchup of veteran right-handers in store for fans at Scottsdale Stadium

Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Merrill Kelly is greeted by his teammates after leaving the game against the Kansas City Royals in the third inning during a spring training game at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick on March 11, 2025. / Rob Schumacher/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Arizona Diamondbacks travel 10 minutes down the road to Scottsdale Stadium Saturday to take on Justin Verlander and the San Francisco Giants in a spring training game. The game was moved up an hour to 12:05 P.M. The D-backs radio broadcast is on 98.7 Arizona Sports and the Giants are on KNBR 680 in the Bay Area.

Merrill Kelly

Merrill Kelly is making his fifth start of the Cactus League. He's thrown 10.1 innings in his previous four, allowing 16 hits, three walks, and striking out 10. Kelly has shown no ill effects from the shoulder injury that cost him four months in 2024. His velocity and stuff have been fine as he builds up his pitch count.

While Kelly was hit around a bit in his last outing, he explained he was throwing pitches that he normally wouldn't throw in certain counts and situations as he was working on things.

Non-Roster invitee relievers Shelby Miller and John Curtiss are scheduled to pitch in this game as well. Miller has shown impressive stuff this spring and may have a leg up in the fight for one of the last bullpen spots.

Related Content: Merrill Kelly Experiments with Arsenal in D-backs Loss to Angels

Justin Verlander

Verlander meanwhile has been lights out this spring. In four outings, he's already gotten to 16 innings, giving up just three runs on 12 hits, four walks, and two homers. He's struck out 15. The last time the D-backs saw Verlander was September 8 of last year on Apple T.V.'s national broadcast. He was torched for eight runs in three innings, two of them from Pavin Smith, who ended up hitting three that day.

Verlander is a slam-dunk Hall of Famer five years after he retires. He has a 267-147 career won-loss record with a 3.30 ERA. The three-time Cy Young winner has 3,416 career strikeouts. Now 42 years old, the Giants are banking on getting a healthy season from Verlander. He is still averaging 94.3 MPH on his fastball this spring and has topped out a couple of MPH above that.

Related Content: Pavin Smith's 3 Homer, 8 RBI Game Leads D-backs to Victory

Lineups

D-backs at Giants lineups March 22, 2025 / Jack Sommers

Speaking of Pavin Smith, he is out of the lineup and is day to day with a right wrist contusion suffered on a play at first base Friday night against the Milwaukee Brewers. Torey Lovullo said that Smith was day to day, and would not need imaging, but they would re-evaluate Saturday morning.

Garrett Hampson is atop the order and playing centerfielder. Despite reports that he opted out of his minor league contract, including here at Arizona Diamondbacks On SI, he is still eligible to play in D-backs games and is still a contender for an Opening Day roster spot.

Most of the D-backs' front-line starting position players went to Maryvale Friday night and are off for this day game. Josh Naylor, however, is back in at first base. The left-handed first baseman is hitting .436 this spring, going 17-for-39 with five doubles and a homer.

Giants big offseason addition, Willy Adames is hitting .381 with three homers and a 1.090 OPS in 47 trips to the plate this spring. Star third baseman Matt Chapman has enjoyed an even more prolific spring, batting .417 with five homers. The Giants are well set on the left side of the infield for the foreseeable future. Adames is under contract until 2031 and Chapman through 2030.