Diamondbacks’ Ryne Nelson explains mental adjustments in stabilizing stretch

The Arizona Diamondbacks have won each of Ryne Nelson’s last six games started.

The 26-year-old has been counted on to eat innings in a banged up rotation all year, and after a rocky start he has provided stability. He leads the club with 70 innings pitched since the start of June and owns a 3.13 ERA and 2.42 FIP over his last half-dozen starts.

He has credited physical adjustments with quieting his body to get out in front more. But Nelson also highlighted the mental leap he has tried to make from his rookie year to the present.

“I think the big thing for me has been figuring out how to get back to to even keel in between starts,” Nelson told Arizona Sports’ Bickley & Marotta on Monday. “I think more on the mental side, in the last couple years, I was either riding the highs or wearing the lows too much. I would let that kind of drill into my work week.

“The best thing you can do is to evaluate the outing, give it some time to figure out what you did good, what you can work on and take those little notes from the outing and put that into your work week and figure out how to best get ready to compete the next week.”

Nelson battled for the fifth rotation spot in spring training after the D-backs signed Eduardo Rodriguez, who suffered a shoulder strain and started the year on the IL. Arizona signed Jordan Montgomery for $25 million after Opening Day, but he needed time to ramp up. In April, Rodriguez suffered a setback and Merrill Kelly landed on the the IL with a teres major strain, thrusting Nelson into a potentially long-term key role.

Nelson had a 7.06 ERA after his seventh start on May 17, walking off Chase Field to boos in a 13-0 loss to the Tigers. Nelson did not cover the bag on a play, a show of lost focus. Since that day he has a 3.78 ERA in 14 games, and he, at least in this stretch, has done well to not let games get away as they would before. On Sunday, Nelson gave up four runs in the first two innings at Pittsburgh and kept the Pirates right there. Arizona came back and won.

Nelson made the third most starts for Arizona last year, but inconsistent performance had him out of the postseason rotation and in the bullpen.

Finding consistency with his secondary arsenal has been a focus since he reached the majors, and he is optimistic with the progress.

“If you’re facing the same guys multiple times over the course of the year or in the same game, you can’t always get them out the same exact way,” Nelson said. “You have to be able to be different and mix it up and play that chess game with them.

“The developments have been moving in the right direction for me. I think the slider and the cutter have been huge this year. Curveball is kind of coming around and just refining that changeup. I think more so just maturing as a pitcher at the big leagues and learning how to use those pitches in different situations has been the big key.”

Do the Diamondbacks have a tough decision with Ryne Nelson?

Rodriguez is set to debut on Wednesday, and Kelly is not far behind having made a rehab start on Tuesday.

The D-backs will have to pick their five for the stretch run, which seemed like an obvious quintet once Montgomery signed. With Nelson’s recent run of success and Montgomery still looking to stack quality starts (6.37 ERA), Nelson may give Diamondbacks something to think about.

“I will say this. It’s been noted (Nelson) has been throwing the ball as well as he has,” manager Torey Lovullo told Arizona Sports’ Burns & Gambo on Friday. “He’s continuing to grow and learn, and I think he is rising quickly. At the end of the day, we got to make some tough decisions. We haven’t gotten there yet, but we need to get to that decision. We’ll make the best decision for the club.”

Any idea of putting Montgomery in the bullpen had not been brought up, Lovullo said on Friday.

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