Juan Manuel Nieves Cruz (born January 5, 1965) is a Puerto Rican

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professiona ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or dr ...

and

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

who is currently the assistant pitching coach for the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (A ...

(MLB). He played for the

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. The Brewers are named for t ...

(MLB) from 1986 to 1988. He has coached in MLB for the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

, and

Miami Marlins The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The club's home ballpark is LoanDepot Park. The fra ...

Playing career

Nieves was signed by the

, with a $115,000

signing bonus A signing bonus or sign-on bonus is a sum of money paid to a new employee (including a professional sports person) by a company as an incentive to join that company. They are often given as a way of making a compensation package more attractive ...

, after he had a 19–1

win–loss record In sports, a winning percentage is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. The statistic is commonly used in standings or rankings to compare teams or individuals. It is defined as wins divided by the total number of match ...

with a 1.05

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the numb ...

(ERA) during his senior season at the

Avon Old Farms , motto_translation = Aspiring and Persevering , address = 500 Old Farms Road , city = Avon , state = Connecticut , zipcode = 06001 , country = United St ...

school in

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the ...

. On April 15, 1987, Nieves threw a

no-hitter In baseball, a no-hitter is a game in which a team was not able to record a hit. Major League Baseball (MLB) officially defines a no-hitter as a completed game in which a team that batted in at least nine innings recorded no hits. A pitcher wh ...

against the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...

, becoming the second-youngest player in Major League history to do so. He threw the only no-hitter for the Brewers until 2021. Nieves' no-hitter became the first ever thrown by a Puerto Rican in Major League Baseball. Nieves was mostly a starter, but on September 5, 1988, he did earn his only career save against the White Sox. He threw one perfect inning, closing out a 5–2 Brewers victory and saving the game for starter

Don August Donald Glenn August (born July 3, 1963) is an American former Major League Baseball pitcher who played for the Milwaukee Brewers from to . He lived in Mission Viejo, California and graduated from Capistrano Valley High School. Minor pro car ...

. After playing for the Brewers from 1986 to 1988, he suffered a career-ending arm injury.

Coaching career

Nieves worked as a minor league pitching instructor for the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one ...

(1992–1996) and the White Sox (1999–2007) before joining the

Major League staff as the

bullpen coach In baseball, a number of coaches assist in the smooth functioning of a team. They are assistants to the manager, who determines the starting lineup and batting order, decides how to substitute players during the game, and makes strategy decisio ...

serving for the five seasons. He was mentored by

Don Cooper Donald James Cooper (born January 15, 1956) is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher who spent parts of four seasons with the Minnesota Twins (1981–1982), Toronto Blue Jays (1983) and New York Yankees (1985). He was the pi ...

, first when Cooper was the White Sox' roving coordinator in their minor league hierarchy, and later when Cooper became the pitching coach of the Sox. They became really close, adapting similar pitching styles and was named as "Cooper's right-hand man". He was named Boston's pitching coach on November 7, 2012. He brought over Cooper's style of pitching to the Red Sox organization. Nieves led the Red Sox to the second lowest earned run average in the American League as the team went on to win the World Series. After the Red Sox earned the second highest team ERA (4.86) to start the 2015 season, Nieves was dismissed by the team on May 7, 2015. Nieves spent the next three seasons as pitching coach for the

, being dismissed after the 2018 season. On November 6, 2020, the

named Nieves as the team's assistant pitching coach for the 2021 season. Nieves had spent the previous two seasons as the pitching coach for the

Toledo Mud Hens The Toledo Mud Hens are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers. They are located in Toledo, Ohio, and play their home games at Fifth Third Field. A Mud Hens team has played in ...

, the Tigers Triple-A affiliate.

References

External links

: {{DEFAULTSORT:Nieves, Juan 1965 births Living people Beloit Brewers players Boston Red Sox coaches Chicago White Sox coaches Detroit Tigers coaches Denver Zephyrs players El Paso Diablos players Major League Baseball bullpen coaches Major League Baseball pitchers Major League Baseball pitching coaches Major League Baseball players from Puerto Rico Miami Marlins coaches Milwaukee Brewers players Puerto Rican expatriate baseball players in Canada Sioux Falls Canaries players Stockton Ports players Vancouver Canadians players People from Santurce, Puerto Rico

Playing career

Coaching career

See also

References

External links