Kirk Nieuwenhuis: 2015 NL Champion Mets Reserve Outfielder (2012 - 2015)
Kirk Robert
Nieuwenhuis was born on August
7th, 1987, in Santa Monica California. The six-foot three
outfielder played three seasons at Azusa University where he set school records
in runs scored (190) & triples (12). He led his Cougars team to back-to-back NAIA World Series titles there as well.
He was drafted out of Azusa by the
New York Mets in the third round of the 2008 draft.
He began his career
with the A ball Brooklyn Cyclones where hit three HRs & drove in 29
runs while batting .277 in 74 games.
In 2009 he was at A
ball St. Lucie hitting .274 before getting pushed up to AA Binghamton. In 2010
he only hit .225 but hit 16 HRs & drove in 60 Runs at Binghamton,
getting promoted to AAA Buffalo late in the year.
In 2011 he hit .298 at
Buffalo with an excellent .403 on base % along with 6 HRs 14 RBIs & 17
doubles but was shut down in the second half of the year with a torn labrum.
Mets Career: In 2012 he got called
up to the Mets squad after just one game to replace the injured Andres Torres.
He made his MLB debut in the second game of the season getting two hits in the
Mets 4-2 win over the Atlanta Braves.
On April 9th he hit a
two run HR off Washington's Edwin Jackson in a game the Mets would win on a
Daniel Murphy walk off RBI single. He went on a seven-game hit streak &
ended April batting .325 with seven multi-hit games.
On April 26th he had a
bottom of the 9th inning walk off single off the Marlins Heath Bell to give the
Mets a dramatic 3-2 win. Things went great for Nieuwenhuis as a new member of a surprising 2012 Mets team that was playing well. The long-haired California surfer looking kid, became a quick fan favorite & earned the nick name Captain Kirk.
Throughout May he kept
his average up at .294 & played a fine defensive outfield as well. On
June 3rd he had three hits, including a two run HR against the St. Louis
Cardinals in the Mets 6-1 victory & four game series sweep at Citi
Field.
On June 14th in an
inter league game at Tampa, Kirk hit two HRs while driving in three runs in the
9-6 New York win. The next day as the Mets returned home, he hit another HR a
solo shot in a 7-3 loss to the Cincinnati Reds. Nieuwenhuis went into July
batting .275 with 7 HRs & 26 RBIs.
But in the month, he
went just 4-39, with two RBIs & his average fell to .252. He was
striking out often enough to put him in the NL's top ten as well (98 Ks in 282
at bats). By August 1st he was back down at AAA Las Vegas for the rest of the
year. With the Mets he had played a good outfield making four assists posting a
.982 fielding %.
2013: Kirk made the
club out of Spring Training as a backup outfielder. He made a pinch-hit appearance on Opening Day but in the month of April was only batting .125
& was sent back to AAA Las Vegas. He returned to the Mets on June 9th. On June 16th, he was the hero of the game when he hit a walk off three run HR at Citi Field, off the Chicago Cubs Calos Marmol.
In July he hit two
more HRs, but both coming in Mets losing efforts.
On July 5th at Miller Park in Milwaukee, he had one of his most productive days in the big leagues, gathering four hits & five RBIs, helping Jeremy Hefner to a 12-5 win.
On July 5th at Miller Park in Milwaukee, he had one of his most productive days in the big leagues, gathering four hits & five RBIs, helping Jeremy Hefner to a 12-5 win.
On July 27th, he was
sent back down to AAA Las Vegas as Jenry Mejia was added to the 25-man roster.
Kirk hit .248 with 14 HRs & 37 RBIs in 74 games there.
2014: The Mets had an oversupply of outfielders from off season transactions
& Nieuwenhuis was the odd man out, starting out in Las Vegas.
He got
called up when Chris Young went down with injury, and in his return hit a three
run HR in his first at bat. He had a three-hit day in a 9-0 win over the Arizona D-backs. His numbers fell off & he was sent back down at the end of April batting .222.
He was
brought back up to the Mets squad in late June, getting a hit in his return as
a pinch hitter on June 20th. On June 22nd he got a start & got a pair
of hits with an RBI in an 11-5 Mets win.
On July
7th he hit a HR & drove in two runs later in the week, in the Mets
series sweep at Atlanta. Kirk kept his average above .300 until July 12th.
After that he went 0-11 falling to .246. He was sent back down to AAA Las Vegas
on July 23rd.
He
returned on August 5th & hit safely in three of his first four games
upon return. In the first game he drove in a run in the Mets 6-2 win over the Nat's. In September he helped the Mets to a 4-3 win over the Marlins in Miami.
He finished the year at .259 with 3 HRs 14 doubles & 16 RBIs.
He was picked up again by the New York Mets
& sent to AAA Las Vegas. There he hit ten HRs from June 16th to the end
of the month in eleven games.
He was
brought back up on July 6th & hit an RBI double in a 3-0 Jonathan
Niese shut out at San Francisco over the Giants.
In the bottom of the 2nd inning, he led off with his first HR of the day, coming off pitcher Rubby DelaRosa. The next inning, he hit his second off DelaRosa a two-run shot, putting the Mets up 4-1. He led off the home 5th with this third HR of the day, this one-off Randall Delgado & then in the
Trivia: In 53 Mets seasons, Nieuwenhuis became the tenth Met to hit three HRs in a game, but
never before had anyone done it at home.
The Mets won the game 5-3 in their
final game before the All-Star break. They finished the first half of the
season in second place just two games out.
On July
22nd he drove in two runs in Mets 4-3 loss to the Washington Nationals.
On July
25th he had another one of his biggest games. He collected four hits with three singles
& a double, while driving in four runs in the Mets 15-2 romp over the
Los Angeles Dodgers.
Nieuwenhuis connected for his fourth
& final HR of the year; the run proved to be the game
winner as the Mets went on to the 8-7 win pulling six games ahead of Washington in the standings.
He closed out the year batting just .195, with the Mets he hit .208
with 4 HRs 9 doubles & 13 RBIs in 64 games.winner as the Mets went on to the 8-7 win pulling six games ahead of Washington in the standings.
2015 Post
Season-NLCS: In the NLCS against the Chicago
Cubs, Nieuwenhuis came on in the 5th inning of Game #4 & stayed in the game
going 0-2 but was on the field as the Mets celebrated the clinching of the NL
Pennant.
2015 World Series: Kirk got two pinch hit at bats in the World Series loss to the Kansas City Royals.
In Games #1 he came to bat in the 13th inning & made the third out popping up against pitcher Chris Young with a runner on.
In Game #3
at Citi Field he struck out in the 7th inning in the Mets 9-3 win.
He finished off Game #4 playing in centerfield coming in as a
9th inning defensive replacement.
Post Mets Career: Kirk went 0-10 against the Mets at Citi Field in a May 2016 series. In 125 games that year he batted just .209 & struck out 133 times. He did hit 13 HRs with 18 doubles & 44 RBIs.
In 2017 he had a horrendous April, batting just .088 & was sent down to AAA Colorado Springs, then was designated for assignment. He was signed by the Seattle Mariners but did not make the major league team & was released in August 2018.
In 2017 he had a horrendous April, batting just .088 & was sent down to AAA Colorado Springs, then was designated for assignment. He was signed by the Seattle Mariners but did not make the major league team & was released in August 2018.
Long Island Ducks: In 2019 he played for the Long Island Ducks in the Atlantic Independent League.
Retirement: In 2020 Nieuwenhuis became a coach at Azusa Pacific University, where he attended school & played.
Family: He & his wife Bethany were married in 2013. Bethany was born in California & later attended Citrus Community College. She then worked for Cosmopolitan Events.
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