Diamondbacks to move Jordan Montgomery to bullpen, keep Ryne Nelson in rotation

The Arizona Diamondbacks will move veteran pitcher Jordan Montgomery to the bullpen to keep Ryne Nelson in the starting rotation, manager Torey Lovullo told Arizona Sports’ Burns & Gambo on Friday.

Lovullo said he sat down with Montgomery to discuss his role change after the left-hander allowed six earned runs to the Miami Marlins in Wednesday’s 10-8 victory.

Nelson will get the start on Friday against the Boston Red Sox and has earned his rotation spot going forward behind Zac Gallen, Merrill Kelly, Brandon Pfaadt and Eduardo Rodriguez.

“It’s been about as tough a decision as I’ve had to make since I’ve become the manager here,” Lovullo said.

“Jordan Montgomery’s reputation obviously spoke for itself when we signed him. He won a world championship, and he’s had some good moments. But with 34-35 games left in the season, I have to make these tough decisions in the best interest of this team. So as difficult as it was, I felt like he accepted it. He didn’t love the decision. He’s going to go to the bullpen and help us win games there.”

The Diamondbacks have been clear about not wanting a six-man rotation but kicked the can down the road through a cycle. Nelson was available out of the bullpen during the last two Montgomery starts if needed, but the D-backs kept him in line to start the next game.

The D-backs had an off day Thursday with another scheduled on Monday, so a six-man unit would stretch out the time between starts for the rest of the rotation.

Why did the Diamondbacks sign Jordan Montgomery?

Montgomery signed with the Diamondbacks officially just after Opening Day to fortify the rotation after Rodriguez suffered a shoulder injury. Montgomery had a terrific 2023 season with a 3.20 ERA across 32 starts for the St. Louis Cardinals and Texas Rangers, followed by a fantastic postseason run (2.90 ERA in 31 innings) to help the Rangers win their first World Series.

The Diamondbacks attacked a unique opportunity to get Montgomery, one of several Scott Boras clients to wait until late in the offseason to sign. He signed for $25 million with a player option for next year currently vested at $22.5 million.

It took the 31-year-old more than two weeks to ramp himself up without any spring training. His early results were promising with two quality starts to open his Arizona tenure. From the start of May, however, Montgomery produced a 7.02 ERA (4.76 FIP) in 17 starts, which miraculously the D-backs won 11 of. He has received an average of 6.47 runs of support from the offense this year.

“I just told him, ‘Look, I have to make these decisions based on performance,'” Lovullo said. “If it was April, we might have a different conversation, but for right now, I have Nelly throwing the ball as good as anybody, and I have to make this decision. He understood it. We have a lot of really good teachers on this on this coaching staff. So it’s up to them to be able to find a way to say the right things, push the right buttons and kind of reprogram him to get ready in seven to 10 minutes rather than 35 minutes, which is his normal pregame routine.”

Montgomery has made one relief appearance during the regular season in his MLB career dating back to 2017. He effectively pitched in relief during Game 7 of the ALCS against the Houston Astros last October, giving Texas 2.1 scoreless innings on three days of rest.

Ryne Nelson earns rotation spot

While Montgomery had trouble limiting runs and managed a 15-day IL stint for knee inflammation, Nelson has put together a vital stretch for Arizona’s staff.

Since the start of July, Nelson ranks fourth in MLB among pitchers in fWAR at 1.7, trailing NL Cy Young favorite Chris Sale, Blake Snell and Framber Valdez. His 2.73 ERA leads the D-backs and ranks 14th in the league in the same span.

And the D-backs entered Friday with a 7-2 record in Nelson’s last nine outings. This has been the most consistent stretch of Nelson’s MLB career.

“A lot of fastball carry, a lot of fastball fastball velocity and he knows where that ball is going,” Lovullo said. “He’s been landing it on the edges and his top bar, the secondary stuff is really coming and the cutter and the slider are both big pitches. A lot of aptitude, a lot of growth and learning over the past 15-20 starts, how to throw these pitches effectively, and when to throw them. So it’s all coming together. And it happens quick with pitchers.”

Nelson, 26, made the rotation out of camp given the Rodriguez injury and Montgomery ramp-up, and he has stuck to fill in with so many injuries. He and Pfaadt have been the two mainstays.

The right-hander has attributed changes to quiet his body for more control and mental adjustments to be more even keeled between starts as key to his improvement.

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