merrill kelly heads into Saturday’s start against the Mets with a 1-3 record and a 9.95 ERA. He is set to take the mound at Chase Field in Phoenix, AZ, with Arizona needing a cleaner outing from a pitcher who was a 32-start arm a year ago.
Kelly at Chase Field
Kelly was scheduled to start for the Diamondbacks against the Mets on Saturday, May 9, 2026, at 7:15 PM. That matchup puts him opposite Clay Holmes after New York won an extra-inning game overnight before the series finale.
The assignment comes after four starts and 19 innings in 2026. Kelly’s first start of the season came against the Orioles, when he allowed two runs over 5 1/3 innings, but the stretch after that was far rougher.
Numbers from April and May
Over his next 13 2/3 innings, he allowed 19 earned runs. That left him with an 8.13 FIP, a 2.316 WHIP and a 42 ERA+ entering the Mets game, numbers that sit far below the standard he set in 2025.
Last season, Kelly made 32 starts between the Rangers and Diamondbacks and posted a 3.52 ERA, 3.76 FIP, 1.114 WHIP and 116 ERA+. The gap between those figures and his early 2026 line is the sharpest reason this start stood out on the schedule.
Mets pressure on Arizona
New York arrived on the verge of winning its third consecutive series even while sitting eight games under.500. That added another layer to Arizona’s task: Kelly needed to steady a rotation spot against a club that had already taken the opener in a long game the night before.
For the Diamondbacks, the immediate test was simple. Kelly had to turn a difficult first month into one start that looked more like 2025 than the month that put him at 9.95 ERA. The alternative would leave Arizona asking the same question after another Chase Field outing.
