PHILADELPHIA -- Merrill Kelly is out of answers and has long since run out of patience with his right hamstring, which continues to cramp up on him at the most inopportune times.
The latest happened Friday night in Philadelphia when Kelly was warming up for the sixth inning and felt the cramping, which forced him to leave the game after having thrown just 60 pitches and with the Diamondbacks leading the Phillies, 2-1.
Because the bullpen has been used heavily recently, Arizona manager Torey Lovullo had to try and patch together the last few innings of the game, which led him to use lefty José Castillo to try and get through the seventh.
It was the first time Castillo had pitched in a big league game since July 4, 2023, and he allowed homers to both Kyle Schwarber and Max Kepler as the Phillies went on to win, 3-2.
The cramping issue has come up for Kelly over the last couple of seasons and it happened in the sixth inning of his April 20 start against the Cubs. Kelly and the team have tried all kinds of different things to alleviate the issue.
“I wish I had a good answer for you guys,” Kelly said. “We've tried all kinds of things. We've done all kinds of labs, all kinds of hydration stuff. If I had a good answer for you guys, I'd stop cramping.”
Putting the bullpen in a bad spot Friday is what bothered Kelly the most.
“I’ve got to go out and do my job for the guys in this clubhouse,” Kelly said. “And when it pops up, obviously, that's the most frustrating thing. It's like a game like today, I come out [after] the fifth, but the point of where I was at today with how many pitches, in my opinion, I should still be out there in the seventh.
"I should still be out there in the eighth. It's my day. It's my job to do that -- go as deep as I can. And I think that's the most frustrating part, is to see us lose a game like that, when it still should be in my control and it's not.”
Kelly is expected to be able to make his next scheduled start in five days.