Nelson (5-5) gave up eight hits and a couple walks over 5.1 innings Thursday, but limited the Mets to two runs in a losing effort. He struck out five and hit a batter.
He was fortunate that the Mets left a small village on the bases, as things could have gone much worse. Still, a pair of outings against NL East teams has provided a harsh wake-up call to Nelson, who's allowed 15 hits and eight runs over just 9.1 innings spanning starts versus the Mets and Phillies. That's taken a little of the shine off his season stats, particularly his WHIP (now inflated to 1.28), but he's nonetheless generally provided a rare degree of stability in the Milwaukee rotation. That said, his FIP (4.91) is almost a point and a half higher than his 3.43 ERA, suggesting that continued BABIP regression will bite Nelson as the season goes on. Of course, we're talking about a guy who throws hard and just two years ago was arguably the best pitcher in the minor leagues; it's not inconceivable that he could make some adjustments and improve his efficiency moving forward.