Day-To-Day
Injury Leg
2025 Stats
W-L
3-1
ERA
4.73
WHIP
1.16
K
21
SV
0
Rest-of-Season Projections
2025 Fantasy Outlook
Before an early shoulder injury sidelined Kelly from mid-April to August, the right-hander was headed for a second consecutive impressive season, posting a 2.19 ERA over four starts. He had less success (4.96 ERA) following his return, but most of the damage was in August, and Kelly was back on form in September. Kelly finished with a greater HR/9 and struck out fewer batters in 2024, but when a pitcher misses four months, one should resist making judgments based on ratios/results and instead focus on the injury, which altered his pitch mix. Kelly threw more cutters and changeups than four-seamers for the first time in his career; however, he pitched well when healthy in April and September, putting him on a path for a normal winter of preparation. The Diamondbacks have confidence that the 36-year-old will return to his 2023 iteration (3.29 ERA, 9.5 K/9) and picked up his option. Read Past Outlooks
Exits early Sunday
Kelly (leg) exited Sunday's contest against the Cubs in the bottom of the sixth inning due to right leg cramping.
ANALYSIS
Kelly had tossed 5.2 innings of one-run ball, allowing two hits and a walk while striking out five batters before being forced to leave the game. The right-hander retired the final 16 batters he faced in the contest, and his status moving forward is likely day-to-day. Kelly is projected to make his next start Saturday against Atlanta, and it's unclear if he's in danger of missing that outing.
Kelly had tossed 5.2 innings of one-run ball, allowing two hits and a walk while striking out five batters before being forced to leave the game. The right-hander retired the final 16 batters he faced in the contest, and his status moving forward is likely day-to-day. Kelly is projected to make his next start Saturday against Atlanta, and it's unclear if he's in danger of missing that outing.
Pitching Stats
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2025
2024
2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
Minor League Game Log
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Pitching Appearances Breakdown
Average Pitch Count
85
Last 10 Games
85
Last 5 Games
85
How many pitches does Merrill Kelly generally throw?
1-10
11-20
21-30
31-40
41-50
51-60
61-70
71-80
81-90
91-100
101-110
111-120
121+
What part of the game does Merrill Kelly generally pitch?
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th
8th
9th
Extra
% Games Reaching Innings Threshold
% Games By Number of Innings Pitched
Left/Right Pitching Splits
Since 2023
-4%
BAA vs LHP
2025
-8%
BAA vs RHP
| BAA | K | BB | H | HR | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Since 2023vs Left | .221 | 127 | 63 | 115 | 19 | |||
| Since 2023vs Right | .230 | 144 | 36 | 115 | 15 | |||
| 2025vs Left | .206 | 14 | 9 | 13 | 2 | |||
| 2025vs Right | .189 | 7 | 2 | 7 | 1 | |||
| 2024vs Left | .234 | 23 | 16 | 33 | 6 | |||
| 2024vs Right | .250 | 40 | 3 | 34 | 5 | |||
| 2023vs Left | .218 | 90 | 38 | 69 | 11 | |||
| 2023vs Right | .226 | 97 | 31 | 74 | 9 | |||
| More Splits→ | View More Split Stats | |||||||
Home/Away Pitching Splits
Since 2023
-30%
ERA at Home
2025
-63%
ERA at Home
| ERA | WHIP | IP | K/9 | BB/9 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Since 2023Home | 3.01 | 1.06 | 143.2 | 8.9 | 3.2 | ||||
| Since 2023Away | 4.29 | 1.31 | 134.1 | 8.6 | 3.2 | ||||
| 2025Home | 2.38 | 1.06 | 11.1 | 4.0 | 4.8 | ||||
| 2025Away | 6.46 | 1.24 | 15.1 | 9.4 | 2.9 | ||||
| 2024Home | 4.19 | 1.16 | 38.2 | 7.2 | 2.1 | ||||
| 2024Away | 3.86 | 1.17 | 35.0 | 8.2 | 2.6 | ||||
| 2023Home | 2.59 | 1.02 | 93.2 | 10.2 | 3.5 | ||||
| 2023Away | 4.07 | 1.38 | 84.0 | 8.7 | 3.5 | ||||
| More Splits→ | View More Split Stats | ||||||||
Stat Review
How does Merrill Kelly compare to other starting pitchers?
This section compares his stats with all starting pitcher seasons from the previous three seasons (minimum 120 innings)*. The bar represents the player's percentile rank. For example, if the bar is halfway across, then the player falls into the 50th percentile for that stat and it would be considered average.
* Exit Velocity, Barrels/BBE %, Balls Hit 95+ MPH %, and Spin Rate are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 120 IP). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.
* Exit Velocity, Barrels/BBE %, Balls Hit 95+ MPH %, and Spin Rate are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 120 IP). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.
K/BB
1.91K/9
7.1BB/9
3.7HR/9
1.0Fastball
91.9 mphERA
4.73WHIP
1.16BABIP
.239GB/FB
0.91Left On Base
59.7%Exit Velocity
82.9 mphBarrels/BBE
7.3%Spin Rate
2318 rpmBalls Hit 95+ MPH
28.5%Swinging Strike
9.0%Advanced Pitching Stats
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Defensive Stats
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Stats Vs Today's Lineup
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Recent RotoWire Articles Featuring Merrill Kelly See More
Todd Zola is back with his weekly pitcher rankings. And while there aren't many decent starters on multiple appearances, a couple stand out from the rest.
Tuesday's top MLB DFS plays on FanDuel include the Arizona Diamondbacks' Merrill Kelly as an affordable pitching option against the Miami Marlins.
With a number of starters already logging three turns through the rotation, Todd Zola is here to give his thoughts in addition to the latest pitcher placements.
Tuesday's top MLB DFS plays on FanDuel include Francisco Lindor and the other sluggers for the New York Mets in a home clash with the Miami Marlins.
Tuesday's top MLB DFS options on DraftKings include Cole Ragans as the Kansas City Royals host the Minnesota Twins.
Past Fantasy Outlooks
2024
2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
Kelly's ratios were nearly equivalent to his breakthrough 2022 season, but he took a different path to get there. Last season, Kelly fanned a career best 25.9 percent of batters he faced, but he also walked them at a 9.6 percent clip, the highest mark of his career. However, the 16.3 percent K-BB% was his best in a full season. Kelly didn't change his pitch mix much, other than throwing a slider a bit and it was effective. His changeup was offering chiefly driving the increase in strikeouts. Despite posting strong ratios in 2022, Kelly wasn't trusted since he didn't miss many bats. Fast forward a year and Kelly is no longer a secret after fanning well more than a batter an inning and enjoying a strong playoff run. He's likely going to be drafted around 100 picks earlier this season, which puts him in risky territory, since that assumes Kelly continues to punch out hitters at the same rate. Don't shy away from Kelly, but don't expect a repeat of last season's newfound dominance.
More Fantasy News
Fans nine in win
Kelly (3-1) allowed a run on three hits and a walk over six innings Tuesday, striking out nine and earning a win over the Marlins.
ANALYSIS
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Rallies for second win
Kelly (2-1) picked up the win in Tuesday's 4-3 victory over the Orioles, allowing three runs (two earned) on three hits and two walks over six-plus innings. He struck out four.
ANALYSIS
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Demolished by Yankees in loss
Kelly (1-1) took the loss after allowing nine runs on nine hits and three walks in 3.2 innings Thursday against the Yankees. He struck out two.
ANALYSIS
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Picks up win despite shaky control
Kelly (1-0) recorded the win in Friday's 8-1 rout of the Cubs, allowing one run on three hits and four walks over 5.1 innings. He struck out one.
ANALYSIS
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Wraps up Cactus League
Kelly allowed three runs on five hits and two walks while striking out six over five innings in Saturday's spring start against the Giants.
ANALYSIS
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Latest Fantasy Rumors
Could be dealt
According to Will Sammon and Patrick Mooney of The Athletic, Kelly could be a trade chip for the Diamondbacks this offseason.
ANALYSIS
Arizona is receiving trade interest in its starting pitchers, and Kelly is a logical option to be dealt since he's in the final year of his contract. The right-hander was limited to 13 starts in 2024 due to a shoulder injury and had a 4.03 ERA, 1.17 WHIP and 63:19 K:BB over 73.2 innings.
Arizona is receiving trade interest in its starting pitchers, and Kelly is a logical option to be dealt since he's in the final year of his contract. The right-hander was limited to 13 starts in 2024 due to a shoulder injury and had a 4.03 ERA, 1.17 WHIP and 63:19 K:BB over 73.2 innings.