Biography
Ryne Tanner Nelson (born February 1, 1998) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Arizona Diamondbacks of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2022.
Amateur career
Nelson attended Basic High School in Henderson. As a junior, he batted .412 with four home runs and 22 RBIs, along with pitching to a 6–1 record with a 2.03 ERA. In 2016, his senior year, he compiled a 1.91 ERA while batting .415, leading Basic to a state championship and earning a spot on the Nevada All-State team. Unselected out of high school in the 2016 MLB draft, he enrolled at the University of Oregon to play college baseball for the Oregon Ducks.
In 2017, as a freshman at Oregon, Nelson suffered an injury and pitched only 13+1⁄3 innings in which he had a 4.72 ERA. As a sophomore in 2018, he returned healthy and appeared in 16 games out of the bullpen, going 3–1 with a 3.86 ERA. He spent that summer playing in the Cape Cod Baseball League for the Yarmouth–Dennis Red Sox with whom he was named an All-Star. For the 2019 season, he was moved into the starting rotation, but returned to the bullpen after suffering a heel injury. He finished the year with a 3–4 record and a 4.29 ERA in 23 appearances (four starts), earning him a spot on the All-Pac-12 Team.
Professional career
Nelson was considered one of the top prospects for the 2019 MLB draft. He was selected by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the second round, with the 56th overall pick, and signed for $1.1 million. He was assigned to the Hillsboro Hops of the Class A-Short Season Northwest League, going 0–1 with a 2.89 ERA over 18+2⁄3 innings, striking out 26. He did not play a minor league game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
To begin the 2021 season, Nelson returned to Hillsboro, now members of the High-A West league. After eight starts in which he pitched to a 4–1 record with a 2.52 ERA and 59 strikeouts over 39+1⁄3 innings, he was promoted to the Amarillo Sod Poodles of the Double-A Central. Over 14 starts with Amarillo, Nelson went 3–3 with a 3.51 ERA and 104 strikeouts over 77 innings. The Diamondbacks named Nelson their Minor League Pitcher of the Year.
Nelson was promoted to the Triple-A Reno Aces to begin the 2022 season. In 26 games, Nelson went 10–5 with a 5.43 ERA and 128 strikeouts over 136 innings. On September 5, 2022, the Diamondbacks selected Nelson's contract and promoted him to the major leagues. He made his MLB debut that night as the club's starting pitcher versus the San Diego Padres, throwing seven scoreless innings while striking out seven batters and walking zero in a 5-0 Diamondbacks win.
Nelson began the 2023 season on the opening-day roster for the Diamondbacks. On August 13, 2023, Ryne Nelson was optioned back to the Reno Aces to make room for Bryce Jarvis's debut and improve his pitching, with a 5.47 ERA in 24 starts before demotion. After pitching a 0–1 record with a 3.74 ERA and 9 strikeouts over 21+2⁄3 innings, he was promoted back to the Diamondbacks rotation on September 6, 2023. Nelson ended the season pitching an 8–8 record with 5.31 ERA and 96 strikeouts over 144 innings pitched.
On March 30, 2025, Nelson batted for the first time in his career after the Diamondbacks lost their designated hitter. He hit an RBI single up the middle vs Chicago Cubs reliever Eli Morgan, scoring Josh Naylor. He became the first full-time pitcher to get a hit since Zack Greinke in game 4 of the 2021 World Series.