Ryne Nelson Dazzles in Fantastic Outing Against the White Sox

Ryne Nelson's fantastic start against the White Sox gives us a glimpse into his future potential.

Jun 8, 2024; San Diego, California, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Ryne Nelson (19) pitches during the first inning against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Denis Poroy-USA TODAY Sports at Petco Park. / Denis Poroy-USA TODAY Sports

It was Ryne Nelson's turn to take the mound last night at Chase Field. The Arizona Diamondbacks' rotation has been one of the most banged up in the MLB, as the top three starters on their roster are all on the shelf. Nelson was coming off one of his worst starts of the season, allowing 6 ER in 3.1 innings against the Padres. Last night, however, he stepped up in a big way.

Nelson hasn't been much of a strikeout pitcher. He has struggled to get swing and miss, and has lived and died off balls put in play. Until last night Nelson had been riding a stretch of nine consecutive starts without recording more than 5 K's. It may not seem significant, but balls not put in play cannot result in hits.

Last night marked a big change in this narrative. Nelson recorded a career-high eight batters paired with 6 strong innings on the mound. He allowed only a single run on 6 hits and a walk. His outing gave the Diamondbacks a great chance to win, powering them to an important 7-1 victory over the White Sox.

Very importantly, Ryne Nelson was able to log 13 swings and misses. This is the second most Nelson has gotten in 2024, and the most since April 7th.

His pitch mix hasn't tailored itself very well to the whiff but Nelson and backup catcher Tucker Barnhart had a plan of attack against the White Sox. "We talked about making them hit the fastball. Using his pitches, using his strengths a heck of a lot more than anything else" said Barnhart. They did exactly that.

In last nights outing Nelson threw 95 total pitches. 39 of those were 4 seam fastballs, which were used to directly attack Chicago hitters with 74.4% of those fastballs being in the zone. Nelson also threw 27 cutters which he used more carefully, with only a 51% in zone percentage. That totals 66 total fastballs used in last nights game of 95 pitches.

When a pitcher is so aggressive in the zone with his fastballs it allows him to pivot to his other tools when the hitter is sitting on the heat. "It opened the curveball, it opened up the slider, it opened up his cutter, even his changeup" Tucker Barnhart said. The duo was on the same page, they were hunting White Sox hitters and were unrelenting in their approach walking only 1 batter.

Postgame Ryne Nelson spoke with the media. Inside the Diamondbacks Jack Sommers was on hand to get his comments. "We have been working hard on getting the secondaries locked in and I feel like tonight was the first step of getting those locked in....we've been working hard on them for about a month and there is some mindset stuff I've changed".

Nelson focused particularly on his slider and curveball, working on trying not to be so "one dimensional", trying to move them out of the zone to generate chase.

Nelson, like fellow young righty Slade Cecconi has been very inconsistent in 2024. Up and down starts, sometimes going 5-6 innings, and sometimes only lasting 3 have affected the bullpen, but also the team as a whole. Nelson has potential, and last nights game gives us a glimpse into what we might see from him in the future.