Nelson worked on his slider over the offseason, and it's looked sharp early in camp, Steve Gilbert of MLB.com reports.

EDGE Analysis

Coming off Arizona's loss in the World Series, manager Torey Lovullo told Nelson that he needed to be able to throw his slider more and not be so fastball reliant. The right-hander focused on it and has looked good through two spring starts. Nelson threw two scoreless innings with five strikeouts in his first outing and followed that up with one run allowed and another five strikeouts over three innings Thursday. "It's a focus on trying to keep [opposing hitters] off balance, keep them guessing and make sure that they can't just key on the fastball," Nelson said. "When I'm just pumping heaters in there, it's pretty easy to lock in." The battle for the final spot in the rotation should come down to Nelson or Tommy Henry, who has also impressed through two Cactus League outings. Slade Cecconi is also in the mix but struggled Friday when he allowed two runs on five hits and a walk over two innings in his second appearance.