Nick Mears #31

Graduated from Rocklin (Calif.) High School...While in high school also played rugby on a club team for two years...Attended Sacramento City College, where he pitched one season (2017)…Pitched for the Willmar Stingers in the Northwoods League in 2017 and 2018...His great-grandfather, Alyn Butler, was a catcher in the Cardinals farm system...Enjoys duck hunting and working on cars...is a fan of the Sacramento Kings.

2024

Went 1-5 with a 5.93 ERA in a career-high 54 relief appearances between Colorado (41g) and Milwaukee (13g)…made his first career Opening Day roster...Was traded on 7/27 for RHP Bradley Blalock and RHP Yujanyer Herrera...Went 1-4 with a 5.56 ERA in 41 appearances with Colorado (45.1ip, 28er)…Went 0-1 with a 7.30 ERA in 13 appearances with Milwaukee (12.1ip, 10er)…Recorded 75 strikeouts in 57.2 innings...Retired 37 of 54 first batters faced (68.5%)…Stranded 10 of 13 inherited runners (76.9%)…Was on the 15-day injured list from 8/25-9/25, retroactive to 8/23, with right forearm inflammation...Made his postseason debut, appearing in two games vs. New York in the NLWCS (2.1ip, 3k)…Signed a one-year contract on 1/9/25, avoiding arbitration.

2023

Posted a 3.72 ERA (19.1 IP, 8 ER) in his first season as a Rockie, walking 14 and striking out 21 across 16 relief outings … tied for the second-lowest ERA among Rockies... Scoreless in 10 of his 16 appearances overall and gave up more than one run once (three runs, Sept. 27 vs. LAD) … best stretch came May 7-Sept. 20 during which he allowed two runs over 11 outings (13.2 IP, 1.32 ERA)... Struck out a career-high four batters on May 4 vs. Milwaukee (2.0IP)... Made 24 appearances with Triple-A Albuquerque, going 4-1 with one save, a 6.08 ERA (23.2 IP, 16 ER), 22 walks and 39 strikeouts (14.8 SO/9)... Two stints on the IL with a strained left oblique: May 15-June 3 and June 28-Aug. 15 … appeared in one rehab game with the ACL Rockies... Claimed off waivers by Colorado from Texas on Jan. 6.

2022

Missed the majority of the season while recovering from right elbow surgery...Made his season debut Oct. 3 vs. St. Louis and pitched 0.2 scoreless innings with one walk and one strikeout … second and final appearance of the season Oct. 5 vs. St. Louis with one hit and one strikeout across 1.1 innings...Made 29 combined appearances with Low-A Bradenton and Triple-A Indianapolis, going 2-1 with a 4.80 ERA (30.0 IP, 16 ER), 19 walks and 34 strikeouts while holding opponents to a .211 average (23-for-109)...Placed on the 60-day injured list on March 14 while recovering from surgery … reinstated and optioned to Indianapolis on Aug. 20 … recalled by Pittsburgh on Oct. 3.

2021

Began season at the alternate training site in Pittsburgh; was assigned to Triple-A Indianapolis to begin the season...Was charged with five earned runs in his first appearance on 5/5 at Iowa (0.1ip)... Was scored upon once in his next three outings (3.1ip/1er) thru 5/21...Was recalled to the Major League roster on 5/26; did not appear in a game before being optioned back to Indy on 5/31...Was recalled a second time on 7/4; did not pitch and was optioned back to Triple-A on 7/5...Earned lone save with Indianapolis on 7/13 vs. Omaha...Was recalled a third time on 7/16...Did not appear in a game before being optioned back to Indy on 7/18...Was recalled a fourth time on 7/20; made season debut with the Pirates that night at Arizona and pitched a scoreless inning... Pitched a career-high 2.0 scoreless innings on 7/27 vs. Milwaukee... Struck out in his first career plate appearance on 8/14 vs. Milwaukee (game 1)... Suffered first of his five blown saves on 8/21 at St. Louis; entered game in the sixth inning with a 2-1 lead and gave up two runs...Gave up a season-high four runs in 1.0ip on 9/14 vs. Cincinnati...Escaped a self-induced, bases-loaded, no-out jam on 9/21 at Cincinnati; entered game with a 3-2 lead in the seventh inning...Was not charged with a run in his last eight appearances (5.1ip)...Won his first Major League game in his final outing on 10/2 vs. Cincinnati...Shared the team lead in appearances (30) with Chris Stratton, beginning with his first outing on 7/20.

2020

Began season at the alternate training camp in Altoona...Was recalled for the first of three times on 8/8...Made his Major League debut on 8/8 vs. Detroit; walked three batters, struck out two and gave up one run in 1.0ip...Was optioned on 8/9...Was recalled a second time on 8/18...Pitched 1.1 scoreless innings on 8/19 vs. Cleveland... Walked three batters and gave up a run in 1.0ip on 8/22 vs. Milwaukee...Was optioned on 8/23...Was recalled a third and final time on 8/27...Made his last appearance on 8/28 at Milwaukee and allowed a solo homer to Jedd Gyorko in a season-high 1.2 innings of work...Was optioned on 8/29... Finished season on the Taxi Squad from 9/23-27.

2019

Went 5-3 with five saves, a 3.28 ERA (46.2ip/17er) and 69 strikeouts in a total of 34 relief appearances between Single-A Greensboro, Single-A Bradenton and Double-A Altoona...Averaged 13.3 strikeouts per 9.0 innings pitched between the three levels while limiting right-handed batters to a .116 batting average...Began season with Greensboro...Was charged with a loss and blown save (1.2ip/3er) in season debut on 4/6 vs. Hagerstown... Earned first professional win on 4/23 at Lexington...Tossed a season-high 9.0 scoreless innings over five appearances from 4/10-27...Was promoted to Bradenton on 5/4 and earned the win with 2.0 scoreless innings of work in his debut with the Marauders later that day vs. Lakeland...Worked a scoreless ninth inning while picking up his first professional save on 5/18 at Palm Beach...Allowed a season-high tying three runs while being charged with the loss on 5/31 at Tampa... Struck out 13 batters over a combined 7.1 scoreless innings in seven appearances during the month of June...Was on the seven-day injured list from 7/23 until 8/2...Was promoted to Altoona on 8/17...Allowed one run in 1.0 inning of work in Double-A debut on 8/20 vs. Hartford...Allowed two hits over 8.2 scoreless innings in eight relief appearances while pitching for the Peoria Javelinas during the Arizona Fall League (also allowed just two hits in 26 at bats).

2018

Began professional career with the West Virginia Black Bears in 2018 after being signed by the Pirates as a nondrafted free agent on 8/22/18...Struck out two of the three batters he faced while making professional debut on 8/26/18 vs. Auburn...Struck out eight batters over 4.0 scoreless innings in his three appearances during his first professional season with the Black Bears.