Brewers pitcher Jimmy Nelson allowed 10 earned runs in 4 1/3 innings in a Triple-A outing Monday and has posted a 6.23 ERA in four Cactus League starts, but he and pitching coach Rick Kranitz are focusing on the positives, MLB.com reports.
"This is a tough game, but everybody here is good at taking the positives out of things, and that's what you have to do in this game or it will break you down pretty good," Nelson said. "I've been trying to take the positives from every outing I've had and keep them in the back of my mind and remember how that felt, whether it's mechanically or mentally or anything like that. The pieces are there, I'm just putting them together."
Kranitz indicated that he saw improvement in Nelson's slider Monday.
"We saw some really good things," said Kranitz. "We needed to have him put guys away with the slider, and yesterday, there it was."
Nelson said his confidence remains high heading into Saturday's final spring start.
"I really have just been focused on attacking the strike zone," Nelson said. "Things we can control as pitchers are walks. Hits are going to happen. I've really been trying to cut down my walks first and foremost, and build off that. It's building blocks. First you have to get the strike zone. Then you have to command certain parts of the strike zone. Then you can start doing more advanced stuff."