Ryne Nelson Continues to Push for Rotation Spot

The D-backs saw healthy returns from Eugenio Suarez and Alek Thomas plus some exciting signs from their starting offense.

The Diamondbacks won against the San Diego Padres on Tuesday afternoon by a score of 5-3 at Salt River Fields. This brings their Cactus League record to .500 at 6-6. The team saw early success from their nearly full Opening Day lineup with all five runs scored in the first three innings.

Eugenio Suarez was the big star on offense. He clobbered a middle-middle first-pitch fastball for 422 feet to deep left field for a three-run homer. It was his first home run as a D-backs member and in Spring Training. It had an exit velocity of 109.3 MPH and was a home run in all 30 MLB ballparks.

Besides Suarez, Ketel Marte continued to hit with another base hit to raise his average to .556. Pavin Smith went 2-3 with a double as he battles for a roster spot. Alek Thomas played six innings and went 0-3 but emerged healthy which is big news for the team. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. went 1-3 with an RBI and run scored to raise his average to .353.

Ryne Nelson went 3+ innings and gave up five hits, two runs, a walk, and struck out two. He garnered three swings and misses, all of which were on his fastball. That was a tad concerning because he gave up some loud contact on his slider which he has been working on all off-season to avoid bats.

Nelson was hit by a comebacker on the inside of the knee in the second inning but remained in to pitch. Afterwards, he said that it hurt but after walking around and throwing a couple of pitches, it felt fine.

On his outing, Nelson said "I think the offspeed stuff is coming around. The slider feels really good." Nelson is scheduled to pitch four innings in his next start before ramping up to five or six innings.

D-backs Manager Torey Lovullo spoke on Ryne Nelson's outing. He said "Nelly had some good spurts. Looked like the fastball was very live. There were some quality breaking balls. The consistency aspect of it is something that we're going to continue to monitor... By and large, I feel like the ability to throw the breaking ball is there but it was a little inconsistent at times. We want more consistency."

Still, it was a solid enough outing. He held his velocity throughout the game and gave up mostly weak contact aside from a few loud singles. He and Tommy Henry continue to battle for that elusive No.5 rotation spot with the other potentially going to the bullpen as a long reliever.

"It's the goal obviously [to make the rotation] but to achieve that it's more so done with me and what I got to do to every day and just trying to constantly improve and work on myself and be better at my craft."  

One interesting factor to note is that Paul Sewald pitched today but his fastball was only around 89 mph. He averaged 92.9 in the playoffs last fall and over 92 throughout last season. It's still early in Spring Training but that's something to keep your eye on.

Lovullo is not concerned about Sewald's velocity. "This is about normal for him. I think when the lights go on, you're going to see things back to normal."

Justin Martinez had a sterling fourth inning allowing a hit and striking out one but garnering four swings and misses. His fastball continued to be elite reaching 100.3 mph and his splitter was located great. He threw 11 sliders today and that was purposefully for him to work on locating his secondary pitches.

Lovullo said that he plans to make sure his relievers know to pound the strike zone with their best fastball as he felt they were nibbling around the edges a bit too much today.

The Diamondbacks have an off-day tomorrow. They return to practice and play on Thursday against the Texas Rangers. The game time is 1:05 PM local AZ time. Christian Walker is slated to make his big return from his hand injury.

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