Ryne Nelson’s start against the Detroit Tigers Friday night can’t be described as anything other than a disaster. After allowing eight runs on 11 hits in four-plus innings, his ERA ballooned to 7.06 while opponents are hitting .366 with a .985 OPS against the hard-throwing right-hander.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!In his postgame media session, Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo told reporters that Nelson will make his next start on May 22 vs. the Los Angeles Dodgers, and they haven’t talked about making any changes to the starting rotation.
Torey Lovullo says Ryne Nelson will make his next start: “Yeah. We haven’t even talked about that.”
— Theo Mackie (@theo_mackie) May 18, 2024
It’s been tough sledding for Nelson this season. The opportunity was there for him to take the next step, especially with Eduardo Rodríguez and Merrill Kelly on the 60-day injured list with shoulder injuries. After making the starting rotation out of spring, he has struggled to give consistent outings. Only once in eight starts has he pitched into the sixth inning, which came on April 13 against the St. Louis Cardinals. That marks his only quality start, as he allowed just one run in six innings in a Diamondbacks win.
One of his starts he left with an injury, as he took a comebacker on the right elbow in the second inning and spent 16 days on the injured list. That game affects his average length, but factoring out that game Nelson averages just 4 2/3 innings per start and has only cleared the fifth inning in half of those starts. For a No. 5 starter, with a bullpen that has a soft underbelly in middle relief, it has the potential to spell disaster every fifth day.
Looking at the Diamondbacks minor league system for potential replacements in the rotation, the organization has Tommy Henry, Blake Walston, and Cristian Mena in Triple-A Reno. Like Nelson, Henry opened the season in the rotation but had been demoted twice due to his own issues with producing consistent starts. Walston has put together two solid starts in a row with Reno, allowing just two runs in 11 innings with 12 strikeouts and four walks. Mena has yet to make his major league debut, with the 21-year-old right-hander having only 12 career starts at the Triple-A level in his career.
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Michael McDermott covers the Arizona Diamondbacks and Arizona Cardinals for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on X via @MichaelMcDMLB
