Joe Nelson #46

Married to Teresa...The couple has 2 daughters and a son...Graduated from St. Joseph's Notre Dame High School in Alameda, CA...Played baseball and basketball and was teammates with the NBA's Jason Kidd in both sports...Played 2 seasons at Seminole (OK) Junior College in 1994-95 and combined to hit .380 with 150 RBI...Pitched for the University of San Francisco in 1996 and was 5-0 with 5 saves.

2009

Made his 1st Opening Day roster in 14th professional season...Pitched out of Rays bullpen from beginning of season until 8/1 when he was optioned to Triple-A Durham... Designated for assignment on 9/1 and outrighted to Durham 2 days later...Logged an 8.53 ERA (12 ER/12.2 IP) in May but compiled a 1.95 ERA (6 ER/27.2 IP) in all other months...Went 2-0 with a 1.40 ERA (3 ER/19.1 IP) in 20 appearances leading up to 8/1 demotion, lowering season ERA from 6.43 to 4.02 in that time...Was 0-1 with a 9.00 ERA (9 ER/9.0 IP) in his 1st 6 appearances with the Bulls before posting a 3.24 ERA (3 ER/8.1 IP) over his final 7 games.

2008

Returned from missing entire 2007 season by setting career highs in wins (3), ERA (2.00), games (59), innings (54.0) and strikeouts (60) for the Marlins...Finished 3rd in ERA among National League relievers (10th in the Majors) behind LAD's Hong-Chih Kuo (1.69) and PHI's Brad Lidge (1.95)...Held opponents to a .207 clip (42-for-203), including .189 mark (20-for-106) by left-handers...Entered Spring Training with Marlins as a non-roster invitee and began the season at Triple-A Albuquerque...Contract purchased by FLA on 5/26 and tossed 1.0 scoreless inning that night at Shea Stadium...From the time of his Marlins debut through the end of the season, only NYM's Pedro Feliciano (61) and Joe Smith (60) made more appearances...Tossed 2.0 or more innings 4 times at the Big League level and allowed more than 1 run just twice all season...Went 1-0 with a 0.77 ERA (1 ER/11.2 IP) in 13 June appearances.

2007

Missed the entire season while recovering from labrum surgery...Placed on the Royals 60-day disabled list on 5/23.

2006

Recorded an impressive rookie season, pitching in a career-high 43 games, logging a 1-1 record with a 4.43 ERA and 9 saves...retained rookie status despite pitching for Atlanta in 2001 (2 games) and Boston in 2004 (3 games)...His 9 saves ranked 4th-most in club history by a rookie, trailing only Mike MacDougal (2003, 27), Doug Bird (1973, 20) and Gene Garber (1973, 11)...Was named Omaha's Pitcher of the Year after going 2-2 with a 1.97 ERA in 24 games with 7 saves (32.0 IP, 19 H, 7 ER)...Converted on 9 of 10 save opportunities for KC and held opponents scoreless in 6 of those 10 outings...recorded a perfect outing in 4 of those 10 appearances and posted a 3.86 ERA (9.1 IP, 6 H, 4 ER) in save situations...Held opponents to a .226 batting average for the year, including a .180 mark against left-handed hitters...held opponents to a .189 average (10-53) with runners in scoring position...Allowed just 4 of 15 inherited runners to score (26.7 percent)...Was 1-0 with a 3.60 ERA (35.0 IP, 24 H, 14 ER) in 36 night games, with all 10 of his save opportunities coming under the lights...was 0-1 with a 7.45 ERA in 7 day games (9.2 IP, 13 H, 8 ER)...Had his contract purchased from Omaha (AAA) on April 21...Made 1 appearance tossing 1.0 scoreless inning April 21 vs. Cleveland walking and striking out one batter each...was designated for assignment April 26...Returned to KC after being recalled on May 15...strung together 5 scoreless appearances before allowing his 1st run of the year May 26 at New York...was optioned back to Omaha on May 31 with a 0.96 ERA in 9.1 innings over 9 games...Started his 3rd stint with the Royals on July 3 when he was recalled from Omaha... made 3 more appearances allowing 2 runs in 4.0 innings...optioned back to Omaha on July 12...recalled for the remainder of the season on July 18...Earned his 1st Major League win on Sept. 9 at Boston...Converted on 9 straight save opportunities, before taking a blown save in KC's 2-1, 10-inning loss at Minnesota on Sept. 28...allowed 1 hit and 1 ER after KC had held the Twins scoreless for 8 innings.

2005

Spent the 2005 season with the Mets, Devil Rays and Cardinals organizations...Spent Spring Training with the Mets, but signed with Tampa Bay on April 19, 2005 and made 35 appearances for Durham (AAA), going 0-3 with a 4.11 ERA in 35 appearances...earned 6 saves and allowed just 41 hits in 46.0 innings, striking out 62 and walking 21...opponents hit just .229 against him...Signed by the Cardinals organization on July 31, 2005 and ended up making 9 appearances for Springfield (AA)...went 0-0 with 1 save and a 2.03 ERA in 13.1 innings...allowed just 4 hits and 7 walks while striking out 22 and holding opponents to a .093 batting average.