Merrill Kelly Sharp in Penultimate Spring Training Start

Almost ready for the season to start, the D-backs number two starter is close to regular season form

Merrill Kelly got four "up-downs" throwing 64 pitches in his start against the Oakland A's on Monday. He went 3.1 innings without allowing a run, gave up four hits, walked one, struck out seven, and hit a batter. Kelly threw 22 pitches in the first inning, and 23 in the third, thus was unable to get into the 5th inning and that 5th up down.  Kelly will likely be targeting five innings and at least 75 pitches in his final spring tune-up before his first regular-season start.

Paul Sewald threw a scoreless inning, giving up two hits and striking out two batters.  His velocity is creeping back slowly towards his 2023 averages. Originally off by 2.5-3.0 MPH earlier in spring, the fastball velocity in this outing was down 1.4 from last year and 1.8 on the sweeper.  Sewald threw four changeups, a pitch he's been working on this spring, and got a swing-and-miss on one of them.

An excellent relay play helped Sewald. With Seth Brown on first, Brent Rooker doubled to the left-field corner. Tim Tawa got the ball back to Jace Peterson, who went deep into the outfield and fired the relay to Gabriel Moreno to nail Brown at the plate. 

Jake McCarthy and Christian Walker each had two-hit games, both scoring and driving in a run. Kevin Newman also had an RBI base hit, as the D-backs starters took an early 3-0 lead by scoring a single run in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th innings.  McCarthy, who is battling for a roster spot, raised his spring batting average to .289 and OPS to .729

The A's tied the game up in the 8th inning with three runs against Logan Allen. The D-backs reserves could not put any runs on the board, as the game ended in a 3-3 tie.

The D-backs play Tuesday night against the Cubs at Sloan Park in Mesa.  Eduardo Rodriguez will start against Kyle Hendricks. Game time is 6:05 P.M.