Arizona was dealing with a short pen today, and the team was probably looking for Nelson to go multiple innings after entering down 2-1. Instead, he threw 36 pitches and got two outs before being replaced by Bryce Jarvis. There’s a good chance he’ll be sent down in exchange for a fresh arm after this, but that might be best for everyone; Nelson, who entered with a 4.50 ERA in 10 innings out of the pen, is going to be needed as a starter at some point, and the Diamondbacks should have him stretched out when it happens.

Nelson walked one and struck out three on the day. All of the damage done against him came in the third inning on a solo blast by Miguel Vargas and an RBI single off the bat of Lenyn Sosa. We’ll see what type of role he ultimately settles into in the Diamondbacks’ bullpen, but unless there’s an injury to one of the team’s starters and Nelson gets moved back to the rotation, it’s hard to envision him having any sort of fantasy value.

Nelson was knocked around for a whopping 11 hits, including a third-inning solo shot by Royals star Bobby Witt Jr., which caused his Cactus League ERA to balloon from 2.25 to an unsightly 8.18 mark. There’s no avenue for him to break camp in Arizona’s season-opening rotation, which means he can be safely ignored for fantasy purposes outside of NL-only formats.

Nelson allowed only one hit, though it was a CJ Alexander home run. Arizona is planning to go with a five-man rotation, so in spite of his strong second half of last season (and his 2.25 in three outings this spring), Nelson will probably be out of the mix initially.