RHP Ryne Nelson roughed up in Diamondbacks' loss to Rockies
DENVER — Right-hander Ryne Nelson kept getting to two strikes, kept finding himself one pitch away from an out. And then he kept losing batters. It added up to another rough outing for the Diamondbacks’ rookie pitcher, who gave up six runs in four innings in an 12-4 loss to the Colorado Rockies on Sunday afternoon.
“I’ve just got to put guys away,” Nelson said. “I’ve got to figure out that swing and miss pitch when I’m ahead in the count and not be so over the plate when I’m ahead.”
Nelson’s outing continued what has been a troublesome trend for the Diamondbacks rotation.
Right-hander Zac Gallen has been fantastic; he will take a 28-inning scoreless streak into his start on Tuesday vs. the Texas Rangers. Right-hander Merrill Kelly would not say he has been locked in, but more often than not he has pitched well enough to win.
Outside of those two, the rotation has not been reliable. Right-hander Drey Jameson was demoted after failing to work deep into back-to-back starts. Left-hander Tommy Henry has a 6.52 ERA through two starts, though it could be argued he pitched better than his final line (5 1/3 innings, four runs) would indicate on Saturday night.
And then there’s Nelson, who owns a 6.39 ERA in six starts and has given up 15 runs over 14 innings in his past three outings.
Nelson (nine career starts) and Jameson (six) are both considered rookies. Henry is a second-year player, though he has just 11 career starts to his name.
“Some growing pains, a little bit of inconsistency,” manager Torey Lovullo said. “All of that is to be expected. The league has made some adjustments to them.”
Though the Diamondbacks appear poised to promote their top pitching prospect, Brandon Pfaadt, to make his debut this week in Texas, the club is going to need better results from the other young starters. As it stands, they don’t have much choice.
The Diamondbacks already have cut ties with veteran Madison Bumgarner, whom they released last week. They are without right-hander Zach Davies; he is out with a left oblique strain and isn’t expected back for weeks. And their other starting pitching options in the minors likely need more seasoning.
From Nelson’s perspective, he doesn't believe he is far off. Thinking back on the day, he saw plenty to like. Adjustments he made between starts began to take hold. His mechanics felt better. He threw more strikes with his secondary pitches. He just couldn’t close the deal often enough.
“I think I made some improvements and the box score doesn’t always show that,” he said. “I was attacking guys, getting ahead, and they were putting some good swings on the ball when they were behind in the count.”
For stretches at a time, Nelson has looked like the pitcher who dominated last September. Those stretches have sometimes lasted a few batters, sometimes a few innings. Regardless, they illustrate to him that he is not far away.
“That’s probably the most frustrating part,” he said. “It is there. I just have to be able to continuously do it over multiple innings for multiple starts and get a rhythm going. I’m just not in a rhythm right now. Once I get that going I think it’ll be better.”
Gallen and Kelly have combined to post a 2.57 ERA with 23 walks and 81 strikeouts in 70 innings. The rest of the rotation has combined for a 7.05 ERA with 42 walks and 48 strikeouts in 75 1/3 innings.
“They don’t have to make huge changes, but they have to make some adjustments on their own,” Lovullo said. “That’s really what it comes down to. There are some growing pains right now, but they’ll figure it out.”
Coming up
Monday: Off.
Tuesday: At Texas, 5:05 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Zac Gallen (4-1, 2.15) vs. Rangers RHP Jon Gray (1-1, 3.91).
Wednesday: At Texas, 11:05 a.m., Diamondbacks TBA vs. Rangers LHP Andrew Heaney (2-2, 4.38).
Thursday: Off.
Friday: At Chase Field, 6:40 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Merrill Kelly (2-3, 3.06) vs. Nationals RHP Chad Kuhl (0-2, 9.41).
* -- Stats entering Saturday.
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Ryne Nelson has another rough outing in Diamondbacks' loss to Rockies
