The Arizona Diamondbacks made the following roster moves. The D-backs’ active roster is at 28 and the 40-man roster is at 40.
So, that’s now… Seven starters on the active roster for the D-backs? Kinda. Given the lack of length in his rehab outings, it looks like Nelson will instead be joining Zac Gallen in working out of the bullpen the rest of the way, which will be interesting. Nelson had made 15 appearances this year, purely as a starter, but does have experience out of the bullpen, in particular last year, when he came on in relief ten times. Small(ish) sample size, but he has actually been significantly better in that role. He has a 2.82 ERA across 44.2 IP, compared to 4.43 over his 93 starts. His starts this year were higher still, at 4.97.
I am a little surprised to see the team make room for Nelson by dumping Derek Law. In some ways, it is a case of, “easy come, easy go.” He’d not pitched in the majors since 2024 due to injury, and began the year on the Injured List. After a couple of rehab outings and another IL stint, he joined the Reno Aces in August, and was then quickly promoted to the major-league roster, making his first appearance there on August 29. He allowed a run in his first outing, but since then has tossed 7.2 scoreless frames across six outings, decent numbers. But with no minor-league options remaining and a free agent at season end, I guess the math didn’t add up.
I’m going to be taking my own advice this evening and stepping outside to touch grass. Well, not literally. It’s still summer in Arizona, so you really don’t want to step outside, and the grass died several months ago. But I’m going to put the phone away for the evening and fully commit to other pastimes! I’ll check back in around 9:30 pm, in the hopes of seeing a series win, in advance of tomorrow’s off-day.