Nelson's strong start cements decision to keep right-hander in rotation

BOSTON -- For the last two weeks, D-backs manager Torey Lovullo had been wrestling with a tough decision regarding his rotation. It was one of those "good problems" to have for a manager, in that he had six starting pitchers for five rotation spots.

Twice through the rotation, Lovullo went with six men while he tried to decide who the odd man out would be.

When he woke up Thursday morning in Boston, Lovullo had made up his mind. Ryne Nelson would stay and Jordan Montgomery would head to the bullpen.

Before Friday's series opener with the Red Sox, which the D-backs won 12-2 for their fourth straight victory, Lovullo sat down with Montgomery and delivered the news. The left-hander was not happy, Lovullo said, but he took the news like a pro.

Nelson was starting Friday night's game and Lovullo did not want to intrude on his thoughts before he took the mound, so he did not deliver the news.

Word spread on social media, but Nelson was locked in on his pregame prep, so he didn't know about Lovullo's decision. The right-hander went out and turned in another good start, allowing just two runs over six innings.

Afterwards a reporter asked him if he knew that he was going to stay in the rotation.

"Nope," Nelson said. "This is the first time [hearing it]. It's awesome."

Nelson did notice that Montgomery went down to the bullpen with the relievers at the start of the game, but Nelson had done the same thing Wednesday when Montgomery started, because had Montgomery gotten knocked out early, then Nelson would have been needed to pitch.

The news certainly had to be a relief for Nelson after the uncertainty he's dealt with recently.

"It's been a weird month or so, how it's kind of been like looming," Nelson said. "But I think now the thing is to not let that change anything that's going on. Just got to stay with my process and keep working, keep going out there and trying to give this team the best chance to win."

The experience of dealing with the pending decision and still being able to pitch well is certainly something that Nelson can use as a blueprint going forward.

"Honestly had no idea," Nelson said. "I didn't know what the decision was gonna be. And I kept trying to just focus on myself. And I think that that's kind of how it is going to be going forward as well."

The road forward for Montgomery is less certain. The 31-year-old free agent remained unsigned throughout the offseason and Spring Training before the D-backs nabbed him just after Opening Day on a $25 million one-year deal.

The deal included a vesting player option for 2025, but at the time of the signing it seemed almost assured that Montgomery would head back into the free-agent market after ‘24.

Now though, with Montgomery sitting with a 6.44 ERA in 19 starts and headed to the bullpen, him picking up the option -- which is for $22.5 million -- seems more likely.

D-backs GM Mike Hazen said that Montgomery's contract situation played no role in the rotation decision.

“We have 30-something games left,” Hazen said. “We’re trying to win every single game. I’ve pushed Torey to make the best decisions for the team every single night to put us in a chance to win. Period. I don’t care about anything else. I told him, ‘We’ll deal with anything we have to.’”