Milwaukee youngster Jimmy Nelson flashes talent in start in New York

Published Sep. 28, 2013 8:42 p.m. ET

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Time will only tell when Jimmy Nelson's next major-league start will come, but his first starting effort was certainly a success.

Starting in place of the shut down Peralta, Nelson allowed just one hit and one run in five innings of work as the Brewers won their fourth straight with a 4-2 victory over the Mets in 10 innings.

"He ended up throwing a nice ballgame," Brewers manager Ron Roenicke said. "His command was OK. Early, I thought the first three innings were pretty good, and he threw some nice sliders. I don't know why he lost it for a couple of batters in the fourth. Overall, I thought pretty good."

Nelson's wild fourth inning started with a walk to Mets first baseman Lucas Duda, who went to second on a wild pitch. Duda moved up to third on a David Wright groundout and scored on Daniel Murphy's sacrifice fly to tie the game at 1-all.

Walks to Mike Baxter and Juan Lagares followed before Nelson got Anthony Recker to hit a sharp ground ball back to him for the final out of the inning.

"I don't know what happened," Roenicke said. "It's just like he lost it. That's why we wanted to put him back out for the fifth. I talked to 'Kranny' and said 'Let's see how he rebounds and see how he gets back out there.' After that he was OK."

Nelson responded with a perfect fifth inning to end his day at 72 pitches. The young right-hander probably had more left in the tank, but he hasn't started since Aug. 31 and there was no sense in pushing things.

Combine Nelson's three relief appearances with his five innings Saturday and he finishes his month in the big leagues with a 0.90 ERA and just one run allowed in 10 innings of work. Did he do enough to at least warrant a look for the starting rotation in spring training next year? Probably not, as the Brewers would like to see a full season in Triple-A out of the 24-year-old.

But Nelson did show the poise and stuff the Brewers were looking to see while gaining valuable experience at the highest level.

"It may be too soon, but we'll have discussions on that," Roenicke said. "He probably could use going back to Triple-A for a bit, but I don't know the circumstances we are going to be in. I don't know what's going to happen with the other guys. He's coming along fast, but I think he needs to pitch some. He has good stuff. I like him."

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