Fernando Nieve: Former Mets Relief Pitcher (2009 - 2010)

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Fernando Alexis Nieve was born July 15th, in Puerto Cabello Venezuela. In 1999 at age 16 he was signed by the Houston Astros ass an amateur free agent. 

MLB Career: In 2006, Nieve debuted finishing off an 11-2 loss to the Florida Marlins. After three starts he was put in the Astros starting rotation by manager Phil Garner. On May 2nd, after two no decisions he collected his first career win coming at Milwaukee. Nieve then lost three straight games before winning his next two. In the second half of the season he was back in the bullpen pitching as a mop up man or late inning reliever.

He finished the year a 3-3 with a 4.20 ERA in 40 appearances finishing off eleven games. 

Nieve missed the entire next season after undergoing Tommy John surgery. In 2008 he returned to the Astros appearing in eleven games in May & September. In 200 he was placed on waivers & picked up by the New York Mets.

Mets Career: Nieve was brought up in June when JJ Putz went on the DL. Nieve debuted on
June 6th, pitching two scoreless innings in a 7-1 loss to the Nationals.

Subway Series: On June 13th he was given his first start, it came during the subway series in the Bronx. Nieve pitched 6.2 innings, earning his first victory allowing two runs including a HR to Alex Rodriguez.

In his second start he earned a win over the Rays at Citi Field, then pitched six shutout innings against the St. Louis Cardinals in this third start to get to a surprising 3-0. Nieve then suffered three straight losses & at the end of July was sent back down to AAA Buffalo for the remainder of the season where he was 3-0. For the fourth place Mets he went 3-3 with a 2.95 ERA.

2010: Nieve would join the Mets at the start of this disappointing season & be used quite often by manager Jerry Manuel early on. In April he made14 appearances earning four holds going 1-1. In May his ERA rose to 6.48 as he blew a save & took a pair of losses. 

On May 29th, he had a horrific start in Milwaukee, giving up five runs to the Brewers including HRs to Corey Hart & George Kottaras to earn his third loss.

Trivia: With his frequent use out of the bullpen, the Mets broadcast team referred to him as "Nightly Nieve".

On July 19th, he had another game where he gave up five runs, this time in Arizona to the Diamondbacks. 

Two days later he gave up a walk off RBI single to Chris Snyder giving Arizona a 4-3 win. It was his last game as he was sent down to AAA Buffalo going 2-1 the rest of the season there.

At the end of the season, he was granted free agency. He would play for the Astros, Dodgers,
Indians, Athletics & Angels minor league teams thru 2014.

Career Stats: In a four-year career, Nieve was 8-11 with a 4.21 ERA, striking out 143 batters walking 84 in 185.2 innings in 99 appearances. 

Pitching Around the World: Nieve would also pitch in Korea Mexico & Italy through 2018.

Coaching: Nieve started coaching in the Pirates organization at the A ball level in 2019.

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