D-Backs’ Carson Kelly hoping injury could serve as ‘mental reset’

Diamondbacks catcher Carson Kelly does not believe his stint on the injured list will be prolonged, but he hopes it turns out to be beneficial in more ways than one.

Kelly has been grinding through a miserable start to his season, one that has taken a toll on his confidence and mentality. He did not shoot down a question about whether his relatively mild left oblique injury could serve as a chance to hit reset on his season.

“I was thinking about that,” said Kelly, who is 6 for 57 (.105) with one extrabase hit. “It’s going to give me some time to work on my core (beliefs), the things that I really believe in.

"Obviously, you never want to be hurt, but there are positives that come with it. Maybe a little bit of a mental reset, a physical reset, would be good for me. I’m going to take every day and get back to what I do well. Think of my core beliefs and things like that and go from there.”

Kelly was asked what he thought was most responsible for his struggles at the plate, whether it was his timing, his approach, his swing mechanics or something else.

“I think it’s a combination of everything, but I also think mental,” he said. “I think when you have the start that I’ve had, it wears on you.”

He said he can sometimes catch himself trying to force his way out of a slump but in fact the opposite approach works best.

“To go back to your basics and get back to what gets you right, what you can work on and what you can control,” he said. “I think a lot of the time I go external and try to find results instead of going back to what I do well and what I can control.”

Kelly was diagnosed with a Grade 1 strain, the least severe. Outfielder Jordan Luplow suffered a Grade 1 oblique strain in spring training and wound up missing a little less than a month.

Short hops

Manager Torey Lovullo said righthander Sean Poppen (shoulder) will throw in an extended spring training game Tuesday. Right-hander Luke Weaver (elbow) is throwing bullpen sessions with long toss in between, and the hope is that he can pitch in an extended game soon. Weaver is working his way back as a reliever, Lovullo said.

*Right-hander J.B. Bukauskas is throwing from out to 90 feet and is progressing with his recovery from a strained right shoulder, Lovullo said.

*Lovullo said he occasionally texts Diamondbacks’ prospects just to check in. He did that with newly arrived outfielder Alek Thomas and has done so recently with Double-A outfielder Corbin Carroll, who had back-to-back multi-homer games over the weekend. Lovullo said he’ll often send messages to congratulate them on big performances. “There’s no levels here,” Lovullo said. “We’re all in this together, we just have different jobs.”

*Lovullo said he planned to send a congratulatory text to his friend Monty Williams, the Phoenix Suns head coach who was named the NBA Coach of the Year on Monday.

“They’ve done an about-face over the past two years, and they’re doing what we’re trying to do here,” Lovullo said of the Suns. “So they’re a prime example of how quickly it can turn . ... I’ve always appreciated the love and support Williams has shown me through the good and bad times. And I just want to give him a huge congratulations, a huge shout-out and say, ‘Job well done.’”