Arizona Diamondbacks' Ryne Nelson shuts down Pirates; starting rotation decision due soon
Right-hander Ryne Nelson turned in another strong outing, his latest in what is becoming an annual tradition. He is once again making it difficult for the Diamondbacks to take him out of their starting rotation.
Reliever Justin Martinez threw a dominant and critical inning in relief, escaping a bases-loaded jam in the eighth. Eugenio Suarez blasted his 15th homer. Josh Naylor hit his sixth. Ketel Marte and Gabriel Moreno each reached base three times.
It added up to a much-needed win for the Diamondbacks, who snapped a season-worst five-game losing skid.
The outing goes down as Nelson’s second crisp performance in as many starts since left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez landed on the injured list earlier this month.
Before the game, it sounded as if it were possible that Rodriguez would be returning from the IL in short order, and with club decision-makers saying he would return as a starter — not as a reliever — it seemed to mean Nelson would be forced to go back into the long relief role he occupied for most of the season’s first six weeks.
But manager Torey Lovullo revealed after the game that Rodriguez, who threw three innings and 55 pitches in a sim game over the weekend, is likely to pitch in at least one more rehab-type setting before being reinstated from the IL.
That means Nelson will start at least one more game, most likely on Sunday against the Washington Nationals.
Whether the decision with Rodriguez was made because of Nelson’s performance was not immediately clear. What can’t be disputed, however, is how effective Nelson has been since midway through last season.
In 120 2/3 innings since last July 1, Nelson has pitched to a 3.28 ERA while striking out 114 and walking just 27. Most of those innings have been logged as a starting pitcher, though he has spent the majority of this season in the bullpen, where he was bumped after the club’s surprising signing of right-hander Corbin Burnes in December.
Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Ryne Nelson (19) throws against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the first inning at Chase Field May 26, 2025.
Last August, the Diamondbacks were willing to bump veteran Jordan Montgomery to the bullpen in favor of Nelson, a move they made despite knowing they were likely to be on the hook to pay Montgomery another $22.5 million in salary this year.
The club owes Rodriguez even more: He signed a four-year, $80 million deal in December 2023 and will be due $40 million over two years after this season.
Money aside, there is no debating who has been the more effective starter in the recent past. Rodriguez posted a 5.04 ERA in 10 starts last season. He has a 7.05 ERA in nine outings this year.
“I’m going to keep going about my business the same way and keep trying to get outs for the team and help the team win,” Nelson said. “Whatever role that’s in is out of my control.
“I mean, making it (the decision) hard on them means I’m going out there and doing my job. That’s all I’m trying to do is prepare each week and take care of the body and make sure the arm stays healthy and go out there and get some outs.”
In giving Rodriguez one more rehab outing — the club wants to build his pitch count beyond the 55 he threw in a sim game on Saturday, May 24 — the Diamondbacks are pushing the Nelson decision back at least another five or so days.
Nelson made the Pirates look every bit like the worst offense in the majors, holding them to just four hits while walking none and striking out four.
“Fastball command was there,” he said. “I feel like that’s where it always starts with me. If fastball command is there and I can jump ahead of guys, I feel like that opens up everything.”
Beyond Nelson, Martinez’s appearance was impressive, as well. Summoned after the Pirates loaded the bases on reliever Scott McGough via an error and two walks, Martinez retired each of the three batters he faced, getting a strikeout, pop out and ground out to extinguish the threat.
With his fastball averaging 99.9 mph and topping out at 102.1, it looked more like a vintage Martinez performance than did his first outing off the injured list over the weekend in St. Louis, making it an encouraging sign for a Diamondbacks team that desperately needs a shutdown reliever at the back of the bullpen.
“It was good (to get out of the jam),” Martinez said. “But it felt way better that we got the ‘W’ tonight and can get back on track and win tomorrow, too. I felt pretty good tonight and I’ll try to be the same tomorrow.”
Coming up
May 27: At Chase Field, 6:40 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Corbin Burnes (3-2, 2.73) vs. Pirates RHP Mike Burrows (0-1, 7.20).
May 28: At Chase Field, 12:40 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Zac Gallen (3-6, 5.25) vs. Pirates RHP Paul Skenes (3-5, 2.36).
May 29: Off.
May 30: At Chase Field, 6:40 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Merrill Kelly (5-2, 3.52) vs. Nationals RHP Jake Irvin (3-1, 3.42).
What to know about the Pittsburgh Pirates
The Pirates won just 76 games last year — their second consecutive season with 76 wins — but it seemed they had a little momentum on their side with the emergence of star RHP Paul Skenes, who arrived in the majors and immediately looked like one of the better starters in baseball. However, the Pirates did little to further upgrade their roster over the winter, got off to a brutal start and wound up firing manager Derek Shelton earlier this month and replacing him with Donnie Kelly, a Pittsburgh native who had a nine-year playing career and had been a member of Shelton’s staff.
They are 7-9 under Kelly after going 12-26 with Shelton. Skenes is throwing well again, with a 2.36 ERA and 70 strikeouts in 68 2/3 innings, and a trio of other Pirates starters are throwing well, but they have had trouble scoring runs. They rank last in the majors with a 3.04 runs per game average and are hitting just .224/.304/.331 as a team. CF Oneil Cruz is off to a solid start, hitting .232/.362/.491 with 11 homers. He hit a ball 122.9 mph on May 25, the hardest-hit ball in the Statcast era (since 2015).
(This story has been updated to add new information.)
