Dodgers: Jimmy Nelson highlights make comeback season seem possible

As Blake Harris of TrueBlueLA so helpfully pointed out, Jimmy Nelson is currently the approximate No. 8 starter for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Which is pretty cool, considering his mind-bending breaking ball looks to be all the way back.

So we’ve got that going for us.

Nelson took to the mound again Tuesday night, and made sure to snap off some dragons that looked extra special, in case you hadn’t noticed the first time around.

The right-hander hasn’t appeared in a full season — fully healthy — since his masterful 2017 campaign, in which he finished ninth in the Cy Young race.

After another false start with the Dodgers in 2020, he decided to re-up for ’21, and the early returns are extremely positive.

Especially on that curveball, and especially Tuesday night.

Filthy.

Do the Dodgers have another secret weapon in Jimmy Nelson?

The Dodgers’ rotation rolls so deep that, at this point, you can be complimenting one spring standout and the remarks can apply to at least four or five different surprises. A good problem to have.

On Tuesday, it was Nelson’s turn to show off, retiring the side in order to start off the game while whiffing three. Many of them were brand names; he retired Mike Moustakas and Nicholas Castellanos and struck out Nick Senzel.

In the aftermath, the burly righty said he’d be down to move around into any role asked of him, which only further lends credence to the idea that he could be an excellent swingman. So far, he’s two-for-two in mowing down the opposition.

Nelson is attempting to battle back from far more than just one season away from the normal routine of baseball. He struck out 199 men in 175 excellent innings for the 2017 Brewers, but then found himself on the shelf for the better part of three years after blowing out his shoulder in a freak base running accident.

His 2019 comeback was all for naught, and he found his progress impeded once again in 2020 after he signed a low-pressure deal with the Dodgers.

Now looking well-rounded and gassed up, Nelson has certainly made an impression on everyone with eyeballs, and will have the first pick of available innings over a prospect like Josiah Gray, thanks to his experience.

Hollywood has taken notice, in more ways than one.

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