Arizona Diamondbacks' Ryne Nelson moves beyond blurry past, toward clear future
When right-hander Ryne Nelson looked in for the sign, he was pretty sure he saw just one finger. It soon became clear his catcher had not called for a fastball.
His catcher got crossed up, the ball caromed away and a runner from third scored the game-winning run. Nelson and his Oregon teammates could only watch as Washington State celebrated near home plate.
There was a reason Nelson thought he saw something that wasn’t there: He has keratoconus, a rare disease that affects the cornea, the outermost layer on the eye, causing it to become thin and misshapen. The way Nelson describes it, instead of being rounded and smooth, his cornea comes to a point.
The issue caused him trouble in college — and even after undergoing eye surgery three years ago, his vision still is not perfect — but it also played a part in getting him to where he is today. His vision problems likely brought an early end to his days as a shortstop, thus accelerating his timetable as a pitcher, a role in which he now thrives.
Nelson, 25, enters spring training as a leading candidate to claim the Diamondbacks’ open rotation spot. Multiple publications have him ranked among baseball’s Top 100 prospects.
Last year, he reached the majors for the first time, turning in a brief but impressive run that included a combined 13 scoreless innings in his first two starts.
Lightly recruited out of high school in Henderson, Nev., Nelson landed at Oregon, where he spent two years splitting time between pitching and playing shortstop. Scouts considered him a stellar athlete and a good defender, but he was never able to hit.
Nelson admits there could be a simple reason for this: He wasn’t good enough. But it was also in college when his vision began to falter, making it harder for him to recognize spin and put the bat on the ball.
The problems first arose during his sophomore season. Nelson tried contact lenses but still experienced occasional blurriness. He shifted to glasses. They were better but still not perfect. Getting signs from his catcher became a constant challenge.
He was a junior in 2019 that day at Washington State. It was cloudy and gloomy that afternoon and the Oregon players were wearing their road grays. It was a bad combination: Both overcast skies and dark jerseys made it harder for Nelson to see.
So it was no surprise he did not see that his catcher had called for a curveball. His fastball zipped past the catcher’s glove and struck the home plate umpire, caroming far enough away to allow the winning run to score.
Nelson remembers getting reamed by a coach for the cross-up. Nelson couldn’t help it, but the moment became a pivotal one: He said it was when he knew surgery was unavoidable.
Eye doctors had told him the issue could be corrected with surgery, but he did not learn about his keratoconus until the following year. He learned the process for surgery would be drawn out.
The procedure, called corneal cross-linking, involves a surgeon “shaving down” part of the cornea with a special tool, Nelson said. Each eye would need its own procedure, performed weeks apart, with the fitting for contacts taking place weeks after that. All told, it would be a three-month process. Nelson put it off.
“It’s pretty hard to find three months to not be able to do anything,” Nelson said. “Even if it was the offseason, I would need to go play catch.”
Drafted by the Diamondbacks in June 2019, Nelson entered the following year with plans to get the surgery at the end of the season. Then came the pandemic. He moved up his plans, having it that May.
“It ended up working out perfectly,” he said.
That is not to say Nelson’s eyes are now perfect. He still needs to wear contacts, and his eyes are still healing, requiring him to regularly adjust the strength of his prescription. He cannot wear normal, soft lenses. Instead, he wears hard plastic lenses called scleral contacts, which require what he described as a “plunger”-like device to put them on and take them off.
“That’s the best part of my day,” Nelson said, “is taking them out.”
Nelson would like to think his career would have worked out either way, but he acknowledges the possibility that things could be different had his eyes been normal.
Maybe he wouldn’t have given up hitting when he did. Maybe he wouldn’t have dedicated himself to pitching. Maybe the Diamondbacks wouldn’t have been intrigued enough to take him in the second round.
And maybe he wouldn’t be one of the reasons the organization is as hopeful as it is entering this season.
“You could say that,” he said. “Things happen for a reason.”
Short hops
Right-hander Stefan Crichton, who had been working his way back from Tommy John surgery, told the Diamondbacks last week he was going to retire, Lovullo said. Crichton, 30, spent the previous five seasons with the Diamondbacks, including in 2020 when he pitched in a prominent bullpen role. “He came in and just explained to me that it was time for him to turn the page and take the next part of his journey away from baseball,” Lovullo said. “It was something he had felt in his heart for a long time.”
*Outfielder Kyle Lewis is expected to make his Cactus League debut “by the weekend,” Lovullo said. Lewis had been dealing with “leg fatigue” early in camp, according to Lovullo.
*Outfielder Jorge Barrosa was scheduled to undergo an MRI on his right hamstring on Monday, Lovullo said. Barrosa left Saturday’s spring training opener after experiencing tightness.
*Infielder Yairo Munoz arrived at Salt River Fields for the first time this spring on Sunday after being delayed by visa problems, Lovullo said. Munoz, 28, in camp on a minor league deal, participated in his first workout on Monday.
Diamondbacks 3, Cubs 0
At Salt River Fields
At the plate: 3B Emmanuel Rivera connected for a three-run, walkoff homer in the bottom of the ninth, snapping a scoreless tie and giving the Diamondbacks their first win in Cactus League play. With a full count, Rivera fouled off a pair of hanging breaking balls before getting a third in a row from RHP Samuel Reyes. Rivera launched it onto the grassy berm in left field. “The pitcher started to make some mistakes up in the zone and I think Manny was zoned in on it,” manager Torey Lovullo said. “You do that to a good hitter, that’s what’s going to happen.”
On the mound: Seven Diamondbacks pitchers combined to fire a two-hit shutout. RHP Brandon Pfaadt led the way with two scoreless innings, allowing one hit and one walk with two strikeouts. Pfaadt admitted to feeling some nerves in the first inning in advance of not just his first start of the spring but his first outing in the main stadium at Salt River Fields. “I was a little antsy in the first inning,” Pfaadt said. “Once the second inning came in, the defense made a few plays for me and I settled in quite nice.” Pfaadt averaged 94.3 mph with his fastball, getting two swings and misses on the pitch. He also got one whiff each on his slider and curveball. RHP Bryce Jarvis threw two scoreless innings and relievers LHP Joe Mantiply, RHP Scott McGough, RHP Corbin Martin, RHP Justin Martinez and RHP Raffi Vizcaino also turned in scoreless frames.
Extra bases: The game was completed in just two hours, four minutes ... Mantiply was hit with a pitch clock violation for not finishing his warmups quickly enough ahead of the top of the third inning, something that Lovullo said was the result of C Carson Kelly being late to get back behind the plate after making the final out of the previous half-inning. LF Brennen Davis also was dinged with a violation in the same sequence because he was not ready to hit, a tough penalty since Mantiply was still delivering warmup throws. … 2B Ketel Marte made a rangy play behind the mound in the top of the fourth, a play that was finished with a nice scoop by 1B Christian Walker. Walker then dug out a low throw from 3B Josh Rojas on the next play.
Tuesday’s game: Diamondbacks RHP Zach Davies vs. White Sox RHP Jonathan Stiever, 1:10 p.m., Salt River Fields.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Ryne Nelson eyes spot in Diamondbacks rotation after vision correction
