Kyle Nicolas #24

Kyle Todd Nicolas...Is a 2017 graduate of Jackson High School in Massillon, Ohio, where he earned two letters in baseball....Went 8-0 with a 0.50 ERA and 78 strikeouts in 56.0 innings as a senior while leading the Polar Bears to a 30-2 record and state championship....Was Prep Baseball Report’s Ohio Player-of-the-Year, a first-team all-state and Federal League Co-Player-of-the-Year in 2017....Graduated in three years while playing baseball at Ball State University...Served as both a weekend starter and closer during his sophomore season in 2019....His father, Todd, played baseball at Youngstown State University and his uncle, Todd Blackledge, played football at Penn State University.

2023

Went 4-7 with two saves, a 5.20 ERA (98.2ip/57er) and 127 strikeouts in 35 games (18 starts) between Altoona and Indianapolis…Ranked fourth among Pittsburgh farmhands with 127 strikeouts…Began season in the starting rotation with Altoona…Struck out a season-high 10 batters while suffering a loss on 5/2 at Richmond (5.0ip/5er)…Went 2-3 with a 3.86 ERA (28.0ip/13r/12er) and 40 strikeouts in six starts during the month of May...His 40 strikeouts during the month of May led all Eastern League pitchers…Went 3-5 with a 4.36 ERA (53.2ip/34r/26er) and 63 strikeouts in 12 starts with Altoona prior to being promoted to Indianapolis on 6/16…Made his first Triple-A start on 6/17 at Iowa (4.0ip/5er)…Struck out nine batters in relief on 6/30 at Louisville, which tied Osvaldo Bido (April 16) for the most strikeouts by an Indianapolis relief pitcher in Victory Field history (since 1996)…Picked up his first Triple-A win on 8/1 at Gwinnett…Went 1-0 with a 1.76 ERA (15.1ip/3er) and a .118 batting average against (6-for-51) in 10 relief appearances in August…Made seven straight scoreless outings from 8/15-31 (8.1ip)…Closed out a 4-1 win on 9/7 vs. Toledo and picked up his first professional save…Struck out at least one batter in all 17 of his relief appearances (42 strikeouts in 27.0ip) between Altoona and Indianapolis…Was selected to the big league roster on 9/19 and made his Major League debut on 9/19 at Chicago (NL).

2022

Attended spring training as a non-roster invitee before going on to spend the entire season with Double-A Altoona…Finished fourth among all Pirates Minor Leaguers in ERA with at least 90.0 innings pitched and 12th among all Pirates Minor Leaguers in strikeouts…Was one of three Curve pitchers with at least 100 strikeouts along with Carmen Mlodzinski and Luis Ortiz…Tossed 8.2 scoreless innings to begin the season, holding opponents to an .077 batting average against before allowing six runs on six hits in the second inning of his third start on 4/23… Threw 5.0 scoreless innings on 4/29 at Akron pitching in front of dozens of family and friends at Canal Park from his native Massilon, Ohio…Threw 14.2 scoreless innings in road games to start the year…His 31 strikeouts in May were tied for the sixth-most in the Eastern League…Was placed on the injured list on 6/4 (shoulder) and activated on 6/25 (was the first time in his life that he missed a start due to injury)…Was placed on the temporary inactive list on 7/1 to be the best man in his older brother’s wedding…Allowed just two baserunners in a season-best 6.0 inning outing on 8/10 at Binghamton.

2021

Entered season ranked as Miami’s 19th-best prospect according to MLB Pipeline...Attended spring training as a non-roster invitee with Miami...Led all Marlins farmhands in strikeouts (136) during his first professional season...Ranked 13th in strikeouts among all pitchers in MiLB 22-years-old or younger according to FanGraphs... Went 6-4 with a 4.18 ERA (99.0ip/46er) and a .216 batting average against in 21 combined appearances (20 starts) between High-A Beloit and Double-A Pensacola... Allowed one run in 5.0 innings while striking out eight batters to earn the win in his professional debut on 5/6 at Wisconsin...Struck out a career-high 11 batters on 5/28 vs. Peoria...Recorded his second and final double-digit strikeout performance in final start with Beloit on 7/20 (10 Ks)...Was promoted to Pensacola on 7/21...Tossed 5.0 scoreless innings but came away with a no-decision in his Double-A debut on 7/27 vs. Mississippi...Made back-to-back starts of 5.0 innings without allowing a run on 8/17 vs. Biloxi and 8/24 at Mississippi...Went 3-1 with a 2.10 ERA (25.2ip/6er), 31 strikeouts and a .151 batting average against in five starts during the month of August.

2020

Selected by the Marlins in the second round (61st overall) of the 2020 Draft out of Ball State University.