The Arizona Diamondbacks placed right-hander Merrill Kelly on the 15-day injured list with a strained right shoulder Monday.
The 35-year-old Kelly, a standout performer during the 2023 postseason, was scratched from his scheduled start against the San Francisco Giants on Sunday with an injury to his pitching shoulder.
Kelly said after the game that he felt discomfort on "four or five throws" while playing catch Saturday and immediately told team athletic trainers.
"It's a really light sensation, but in my mind I feel like I can just tell it was different than something usual," Kelly said. "Obviously during the course of the season, during the course of our lives, we've all felt things in our arm when we've let go of a baseball. I think at this point in my career I'm pretty decent at being able to tell the difference on what's OK to keep going through and then what's not."
The Diamondbacks also placed reliever Miguel Castro on the IL with right shoulder inflammation.
To replace Kelly and Castro on the active roster, the Diamondbacks recalled pitchers Tommy Henry and Andrew Saalfrank from Triple-A Reno.
Kelly's move to the IL, which is retroactive to April 20, comes three days after the Diamondbacks placed starter Ryne Nelson on the injured list with a bruised pitching elbow. Nelson was hit by a line drive off the bat of the Giants' Mike Yastrzemski in the series opener Thursday night.
Kelly is 2-0 with a 2.19 ERA in four starts this season. He was the Diamondbacks' No. 2 starter and played a big role in the club's successful pennant run last October. He contributed one win each in the NL Division Series against the Dodgers, the NL Championship Series against the Phillies and the World Series against the eventual champion Texas Rangers.
Information from Associated Press was used in this report.
