Headlines

  • Rockies Sign Charlie Blackmon To One-Year Extension
  • Reds Sign Nick Krall To Extension, Promote Him To President Of Baseball Operations
  • Giants Fire Gabe Kapler
  • Orioles Agree To 30-Year Lease At Camden Yards
  • Padres Prefer To Retain A.J. Preller, Bob Melvin In 2024
  • Brooks Robinson Passes Away
  • Previous
  • Next
Register
Login
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors
  • Pro Hockey Rumors

MLB Trade Rumors

  • Home
  • Teams
    • AL East
      • Baltimore Orioles
      • Boston Red Sox
      • New York Yankees
      • Tampa Bay Rays
      • Toronto Blue Jays
    • AL Central
      • Chicago White Sox
      • Cleveland Guardians
      • Detroit Tigers
      • Kansas City Royals
      • Minnesota Twins
    • AL West
      • Houston Astros
      • Los Angeles Angels
      • Oakland Athletics
      • Seattle Mariners
      • Texas Rangers
    • NL East
      • Atlanta Braves
      • Miami Marlins
      • New York Mets
      • Philadelphia Phillies
      • Washington Nationals
    • NL Central
      • Chicago Cubs
      • Cincinnati Reds
      • Milwaukee Brewers
      • Pittsburgh Pirates
      • St. Louis Cardinals
    • NL West
      • Arizona Diamondbacks
      • Colorado Rockies
      • Los Angeles Dodgers
      • San Diego Padres
      • San Francisco Giants
  • About
    • MLB Trade Rumors
    • Tim Dierkes
    • Writing team
    • Advertise
    • Archives
  • Contact
  • Tools
    • 2023-24 MLB Free Agent List
    • 2024-25 MLB Free Agent List
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Arbitration Tracker
    • Agency Database
  • NBA/NFL/NHL
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors
  • App
  • Chats
Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Diamondbacks Promote Ryne Nelson

By Mark Polishuk | September 5, 2022 at 2:34pm CDT

SEPTEMBER 5: The D-Backs officially announced Nelson’s promotion Monday afternoon. Reliever Luis Frias was optioned to Reno to free an active roster spot, while the club created a 40-man vacancy by recalling infielder Yonny Hernandez and putting him on the major league 60-day injured list. Hernandez, who strained his left calf while in the minors, is officially done for the season. He’ll be paid at the prorated MLB minimum rate for the remainder of the season

SEPTEMBER 4: Diamondbacks pitching prospect Ryne Nelson will make his MLB debut on Monday, manager Torey Lovullo told The Arizona Republic’s Nick Piecoro and other reporters.  Nelson isn’t on the team’s 40-man roster, so at least one corresponding move will need to be made to create space for the 24-year-old right-hander.

A second-round selection in the 2019 draft, Nelson received some top-100 attention prior to the season, with The Athletic’s Keith Law rating him 74th on his list of baseball’s best prospects and Baseball America rating Nelson 96th.  Law felt that Nelson was “the safe bet who offers the strongest combination of current stuff and command” among Arizona’s top pitching prospects, which was enough for Law to rate Nelson slightly ahead of other notable D’Back hurlers Drey Jameson and Brandon Pfaadt.

Nelson will be the first of that pitching trio to make the majors, though Nelson has had a rocky time in his first exposure to Triple-A baseball.  Nelson has a 5.43 ERA over 136 Triple-A innings this season, with a 21.6% strikeout rate and 7.6% walk rate.  That walk rate is Nelson’s best over his three pro seasons while his strikeout rate is by far his lowest, and Nelson has also allowed 25 homers.  However, as Piecoro notes, these results are certainly influenced by the hitter-friendly conditions of Triple-A Reno and in the Pacific Coast League in general.

Nelson’s fastball is his signature pitch, averaging only around 93-94mph but with a lot of spin.  BA gives Nelson’s fastball an impressive 70 grade on the 20-80 scale, while Pipeline is a little less bullish with a 60 grade.  Pipeline’s scouting report also gives plus grades to Nelson’s curve and slider, and according to some D’Backs personnel, the slider could eventually become the right-hander’s best pitch.

It is worth noting that Nelson is still something of a work in progress as a pitcher, as he was a two-way player at Oregon and didn’t turn solely to pitching until 2019.  Between that relatively late start and the canceled 2020 minor league season, BA’s scouting report feels Nelson “could still have significant growth ahead of him.”  For example, he has made enough improvement with his control that he now looks like a viable starting candidate, whereas there was some feeling that Nelson would ultimately end up as a reliever.

The Diamondbacks see what Nelson can do in Monday’s start against the Padres, and possibly for the rest of September.  Lovullo said the club is moving to a six-man rotation in order to rest some arms and keep everyone fresh in the final month of play, with an eye towards juggling the rotation in advance of a September 20 doubleheader against the Dodgers.  After an day off on September 8, the D’Backs play 18 games in a 17-day span before their next off-day.

Share 0 Retweet 10 Send via email0

Arizona Diamondbacks Transactions Ryne Nelson Yonny Hernandez

Orioles Claim Jake Reed From Dodgers
Main
Blue Jays Designate Zack Collins For Assignment
View Comments (18)

Comments

  1. scottaz

    1 year ago

    Of the three pitchers mentioned above, Nelson has the most AAA experience. I think that was the primary motivation for promoting him first. Pfaadt definitely has the eye popping ERA and KO totals at AAA, but only about 5 starts. Jameson has the 100 MPH heater, that I personally believe should be promoted as a closer/reliever initially and maybe later transition into a starter.

    3
    Reply
    • sufferforsnakes

      1 year ago

      I agree on Jameson, though I’d prefer they keep him in the bullpen.

      1
      Reply
  2. Prospectnvstr

    1 year ago

    Sufferforsnakes: Why pigeonhole Jameson as a RP? If he doesn’t succeed as a starter then they can bump him to the ‘pen.

    1
    Reply
    • sufferforsnakes

      1 year ago

      Actually, I’d like to see how his stuff works as a closer. Last night’s game was more proof they need help there.

      2
      Reply
    • scottaz

      1 year ago

      Prospectnvstr

      In general, I react the same you did about pigeonholing pitchers this early in their career for relief. But the Dbacks have a really pressing need to shore up the glaring team weakness in the bullpen and specifically at the closer position. I also think the Dbacks organization has traditionally been weak in developing relievers. So those two things/reasons lead many of us Dbacks fans to call for more concentration on picking key prospects to earmark for the back end of the bullpen.

      2
      Reply
  3. scottaz

    1 year ago

    Expanding on this organizational weakness of developing relievers for the big league club…

    I’m thinking of several pitchers who were “converted” from starter to reliever in the Dbacks minor league system—Jackson Goddard, Mack Lemieux, Josh Green and Jeff Bain. You’re probably saying “Who? Never heard of them!” And I guess that’s my point. 4 examples that haven’t worked out so far.

    Reply
  4. Ghost Pepper

    1 year ago

    Scott…..Jose Valverde! Lol

    1
    Reply
    • scottaz

      1 year ago

      Papa Grande!

      Reply
  5. scottaz

    1 year ago

    Dbacks brass are making good on their commitment to promote prospects this year. First, it was position players, now pitchers. Everyone expected the position players to make an immediate impact, and they have. The expectations about pitchers was uncertain. Tommy Henry has been surprisingly good.

    Ryne Nelson’s AAA numbers are not eye popping like Henry’s and Brandon Pfaadt’s, but Nelson has the most starts and innings at Reno. He looks to have a high floor (solid 4th or 5th starter), but his projected ceiling isn’t nearly as high as Henry or Pfaadt’s.

    Pfaadt only has 6 AAA starts, so he may not even get called up this year, but he’s the one I’m most excited about next year. He has a ridiculously excellent 1.95 ERA in those 6 AAA starts, and routinely has double digit strikeouts. Those numbers are insane for the extremely hitter friendly PCL!

    1
    Reply
  6. sufferforsnakes

    1 year ago

    Cool, Diamondbacks are the free game today on mlb.tv.

    Reply
  7. desertdawg

    1 year ago

    D’Backs have to do something with Melancon, he is owed 7mil next season, will they just pay off the remaining year, and let him go. So hopefully they will be in the market for a solid closer.

    Reply
    • scottaz

      1 year ago

      I just took a look at Melancon’s career stats and found a very interesting pattern. Every 5 years, Melancon has a Bad year, followed by 4 Good years. So, maybe hang on another year and see if the pattern repeats?

      Here are the numbers:
      YEAR ERA
      2012. 6.20. Bad Year
      2013. 1.36
      2014. 1.90
      2015. 2.23
      2016. 1.64
      2017. 4.50. Bad Year
      2018. 3.23
      2019. 3.61
      2020. 2.78
      2021. 2.23
      2022. 5.20. Bad Year

      3
      Reply
  8. Ghost Pepper

    1 year ago

    Yes. And Kennedy. If we’re in it late we can trade at the deadline if need be. Hope we need nada!

    Reply
  9. sufferforsnakes

    1 year ago

    Dang, what a debut from the kid!
    7 IP
    4 Hits
    0 Runs
    0 BB
    7 SO

    3
    Reply
  10. Hired Gun 23

    1 year ago

    The Padres are in trouble, man.

    1
    Reply
    • jimbobsjorts

      1 year ago

      Yep, other Pads fans have their heads in the sand and refuse to believe it, but this is not a playoff team. Getting shut out by a guy with a 5+ ERA in AAA is just embarrassing. None of the deadline trades have worked out at all, no matter how much they made sense on paper. I think Preller will be fired.

      Reply
      • scottaz

        1 year ago

        Padres aren’t in trouble…except for the fact they are now the 3rd best team in the NLW.

        1
        Reply
  11. Hired Gun 23

    1 year ago

    I was looking at all the ex-Padres players and farmhands doing their thing for another team. There seems to be a fair share of hits & misses. I noticed though that aside from Gore getting regular work at the top level, not many of the prospects during the Preller Era have…

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Please login to leave a reply.

Log in Register

ad: 300x250_1_MLB

    Top Stories

    Rockies Sign Charlie Blackmon To One-Year Extension

    Reds Sign Nick Krall To Extension, Promote Him To President Of Baseball Operations

    Giants Fire Gabe Kapler

    Orioles Agree To 30-Year Lease At Camden Yards

    Padres Prefer To Retain A.J. Preller, Bob Melvin In 2024

    Brooks Robinson Passes Away

    Reds’ Matt McLain Shut Down For Remainder Of 2023 Season

    Padres Plan To Reduce Payroll To Around $200MM; Front Office Changes Possible

    Marlins Place Eury Perez On 15-Day Injured List, Select Jeff Lindgren

    Sandy Alcantara Shut Down For Rest Of 2023 Season

    Brandon Lowe To Miss 4-6 Weeks With Kneecap Fracture

    Rays Promote Junior Caminero

    Sean Doolittle Announces Retirement

    Tigers Name Jeff Greenberg General Manager

    Qualifying Offer Value To Land Around $20.5MM

    Shohei Ohtani Undergoes Elbow Surgery

    Marlins Claim Matt Moore From Guardians

    Rays To Announce New Stadium Deal

    Reds Designate Hunter Renfroe For Assignment

    Shohei Ohtani Out For Season With Oblique Strain

    Recent

    Rockies Sign Charlie Blackmon To One-Year Extension

    Rangers Place Jon Gray On Injured List

    Reds Sign Nick Krall To Extension, Promote Him To President Of Baseball Operations

    Giants Fire Gabe Kapler

    Brewers Select Caleb Boushley, DFA Julio Teheran Amid Flurry Of Roster Moves

    Tigers To Hire Miguel Cabrera As Special Assistant Following 2023 Season

    Nationals Activate Tanner Rainey From 60-Day IL

    Offseason Chat Transcript: St. Louis Cardinals

    Details From Orioles’ Stadium Agreement

    Tyler Clippard Announces Retirement

    ad: 300x250_5_side_mlb

    MLBTR Newsletter - Hot stove highlights in your inbox, five days a week

    Latest Rumors & News

    Latest Rumors & News

    • Shohei Ohtani Rumors
    Trade Rumors App for iOS and Android

    MLBTR Features

    MLBTR Features

    • Go Ad-Free
    • 2023-24 MLB Free Agent List
    • 2024-25 MLB Free Agent List
    • MLB Player Chats
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Agency Database
    • MLBTR On Twitter
    • MLBTR On Facebook
    • Team Facebook Pages
    • How To Set Up Notifications For Breaking News
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors

    Rumors By Team

    • Angels Rumors
    • Astros Rumors
    • Athletics Rumors
    • Blue Jays Rumors
    • Braves Rumors
    • Brewers Rumors
    • Cardinals Rumors
    • Cubs Rumors
    • Diamondbacks Rumors
    • Dodgers Rumors
    • Giants Rumors
    • Guardians Rumors
    • Mariners Rumors
    • Marlins Rumors
    • Mets Rumors
    • Nationals Rumors
    • Orioles Rumors
    • Padres Rumors
    • Phillies Rumors
    • Pirates Rumors
    • Rangers Rumors
    • Rays Rumors
    • Red Sox Rumors
    • Reds Rumors
    • Rockies Rumors
    • Royals Rumors
    • Tigers Rumors
    • Twins Rumors
    • White Sox Rumors
    • Yankees Rumors

    ad: 160x600_MLB

    Navigation

    • Sitemap
    • Archives
    • Feeds by Team

    MLBTR INFO

    • Advertise
    • About
    • Commenting Policy
    • Privacy Policy

    Connect

    • Contact Us
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS Feed

    MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

    hide arrowsFOX Sports Engage Network scroll to top

    Register

    Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version