The Arizona Diamondbacks couldn’t ask pitcher Ryne Nelson to do any more in his 2026 spring training debut, as the starter tossed two scoreless innings Friday night in Peoria against the Seattle Mariners.
Nelson, who was asked to be a reliever and starter last season, didn’t allow a single Seattle hit and struck out three of the six batters he faced.
One of the six outs he induced was former D-backs third baseman Josh Naylor in the first frame, who grounded out to Gino Groover at third on a 96-mph four-seam fastball. The fastball type was Nelson’s most-used pitch of 2025 at a 62% clip, according to Baseball Savant.
His four-seamer didn’t dip below 95 mph and topped out at 97 mph on two of Nelson’s strikeouts.
The 28-year-old pocketed four outs with the same throw (two strikeouts and two groundouts). His first out of spring camp, center fielder Victor Robles, was a groundout induced by a slider and the other non-four-seamer out was a strikeout via a 90-mph cutter.
Nelson is coming off his best of four MLB seasons, in which he posted a 3.39 ERA in 23 starts (10 relief appearances). He threw a career-high 154 innings in 2025 that ranked fourth for Arizona pitchers, only one-third of an inning behind lefty Eduardo Rodriguez.
Rodriguez, too, had a solid first outing Thursday, tossing two scoreless innings and showing off improved fastball velocity.
