Diamondbacks' Ryne Nelson Reflects on Successful First Outing

Right-hander Ryne Nelson was one of the Arizona Diamondbacks' most heartwarming success stories in 2024, and his Spring Training is already off to a positive start.

In Nelson's 2025 Cactus League debut on Friday, the young righty tossed two scoreless innings with a strikeout as the D-backs went on to defeat the Kansas City Royals 6-1. While there were some location mistakes, Nelson kept the Royals off the scoreboard.

Nelson caught up with reporters after his outing, including Diamondbacks On SI's Jack Sommers.

"It's good to be out there again. Get into some live game action rhythm. I think there's some things you just can't replicate throwing on the sides and in live at-bats. Game speed and everything, so it's nice to get that feel back. Kind of figure out my rhythm and my routines out there. Felt like it went as good as you can ask for for a first one," Nelson said.

Nelson said he was looking to fine-tune his cutter and slider, two secondary pitches that helped him develop into a much more effective arm as the 2024 season progressed. Both pitches displayed solid movement, and the cutter topped out at an impressive 90.4 MPH and induced two whiffs.

"Just executing pitches and working on the cutter-slider combo. I feel like that went pretty well today. Threw some where I wanted to. Didn't strike the world out, but got some soft contact and stuff like that.

"Working with [the cutter] and trying to manipulate it, make it go down, go out sometimes and just have more weapons to work with," he said.

Nelson said he's been anxious to get back out on the mound, and that he's excited to finally be able to pitch in real game action again.

"I think I've been itching to get out there for a couple months now, so it's nice to finally get into that rhythm and now work every five days, so it's exciting to be back.

"It's always a pleasure to get the ball in your hand, and no matter when you get it, it's a blessing. I like to go out there and have fun and compete, and that's what I love to do," Nelson said.

But Nelson, along with some of his other young teammates, finds himself in the midst of a roster battle. With seven major league starting pitchers available, Nelson could find himself beginning 2025 in relief, or even Reno if things were to go poorly.

But the even-keeled, soft-spoken Nelson continues to take that pressure in stride. In fact, he looks at the situation as a positive.

"It's one of the things that comes with being on a really talented team, a really competitive team, and I'm just happy to be part of it.

"I think this year I have more of a realization that a lot of this stuff is out of your control. I love playing baseball, so I think it's just like I got to go out there and pitch today, and that's all I'm really concerned about," Nelson continued.

While it might look a little different, with Nelson entering his fourth major league season, the righty is still ready for whatever may come.

"I think I have more experience now. I've started a pretty good amount of games in the last two years, and I think that it definitely feels different.

"[But] there's still competition, I think even when you're seven, eight years into your career, you're always going to be competing against people, so I don't think it really changes ever. It's just more of like a headline now," he said.

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