SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- When he started warming up in the home bullpen Friday afternoon before a 7-5 win over the Cubs, D-backs starter Merrill Kelly found himself thinking back to 2019.

Back then, the right-hander was in his first Spring Training with the team, his first big league camp ever after spending the previous four years pitching in Korea. He was an unknown quantity trying to make an impression and hoping to establish himself as a big leaguer.

“It was kind of weird -- I had some flashbacks and déjà vu,” Kelly said. “For some reason, I don’t know why it popped into my head, but [I was thinking about] my very first Spring Training game back in 2019. Kind of just where the journey has taken me, and it was a nice little trip down memory lane. You’ve got to take your small moments to kind of reflect on that and appreciate it, but obviously we're here now and that time feels like a long time ago, so we’ve got to keep going forward.”

Where Kelly is now is not only an established big leaguer, but one of the most consistent pitchers in the game, a 35-year-old who pitched in big games for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic last spring and Game 2 of the World Series in the fall.

It was a much longer journey than he expected when he was selected in the eighth round of the 2010 MLB Draft by the Tampa Bay Rays, but it’s one he is now proud of and one that has strengthened his resolve.

Friday marked Kelly’s first Cactus League appearance of the spring, as the D-backs tried to slow down his preparation, a nod to how late into the year last season ran with the club’s unexpected run to the World Series.

Zac Gallen, who is on a similar plan, made his debut Thursday, and Friday it was Kelly’s turn. He looked sharp, dispatching all six Cubs hitters he faced in just 21 pitches.

A veteran now, Kelly was on board with the team’s plan to bring him along more slowly this spring. He knows what he needs to do to be ready for his first start of the year, and he was confident he would be ready, but there are always the nerves that come with the first game action of the spring.

“It's funny when the lights turn on and competition actually gets real,” Kelly said. “You know, bullpens and live BPs can only try to emulate what we feel in the game. I haven’t minded the slow ramp up. I’ve enjoyed it, and I don’t feel like I’m behind the eight ball.”

GAME NOTES
• Left fielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. was hit on the left hand by a Kyle Hendricks pitch in the third inning, and was removed from the game. Gurriel, though, said he was fine and did not even need X-rays.

• Kelly threw 14 more pitches in the bullpen after being removed from the game to bring his pitch count for the day to 35.

• Right-hander Kevin Ginkel made his first appearance of the spring after being shut down earlier in camp with a sore elbow. Ginkel allowed one run in one inning.

• The D-backs will play split-squad games on Saturday, with left-hander Tommy Henry, who is in competition for the No. 5 spot in the rotation, starting in Surprise against the Royals. Left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez will start at Salt River Fields against the Reds.