How Ryne Nelson Won the Diamondbacks 5th Starter Spot

Not considered the favorite coming into camp, the right-hander leap frogged the competition

Ryne Nelson Pitches agains the Seattle Mariners for the Arizona Diamondbacks / Chris Coduto/GettyImages

Ryne Nelson’s final appearance of Spring Training last Friday was his most impressive outing yet.  Nelson stuck out nine batters in five innings, giving up just one run on a solo homer.  His 26 strikeouts this spring ranks second in all of MLB, behind only Spencer Strider’s 35.

In 2023 a lack of swing-and-miss and strikeouts was a major flaw in his game. Nelson made 27 starts and two relief appearances in his first full season last year. He went 8-8 with a 5.31 ERA in 144 innings pitched, striking out just 96 batters, (6.0 K/9). The relief appearances came in September when he was demoted to the bullpen. His final outing of the season came in the World Series in which he threw 5.1 innings in relief, giving up just one run on three hits, while striking out six.

Highly motivated to continue the personal positive momentum from that outing, Nelson started working out at Salt River Fields in early November.  He’s worked with pitching coach Brent Strom on throwing a harder slider, drastically improved the command of his secondary pitchers, and perhaps the most important mechanical adjustment of all, increased his extension. That allows his fastball to play up, with a higher perceived velocity.

In Friday’s game against the Mariners, which ended in a 3-3 tie, Nelson generated 11 of his 17 whiffs with his four-seam fastball. He also mixed in his slider, curveball, changeup, and cutter effectively. In total, he threw 73 pitches, 55 for strikes.  His command was sharper in this game compared to his previous outing.

After the game, Nelson said “Today everything felt really good. I think that I worked ahead a lot, that was one of main focuses from last outing…… That was my big focus today. It makes it easier to dip into the bag of tricks when you’re working ahead, and I felt like I kept them off balance. I had some good stuff today.”

Nelson has put himself in a position to open the season in the D-backs’ rotation.  He was already perceived by many to be the frontrunner for the fifth starter’s spot.  No. 3 starter Eduardo Rodriguez recently suffered a left lat injury and will begin the season on the injured list, thus opening up a second spot in the rotation.

While the team has not made an official announcement as of this writing, Nelson is all but assured to be in the rotation. He currently lines up for the fifth starter’s spot that comes due on Monday, April 1st against the New York Yankees at Chase Field.  Tommy Henry and Bryce Jarvis, the other two rotation candidates, both line up for the third game of the season on March 30th against the Rockies.