Kirk Robert Nieuwenhuis, (born August 7, 1987) is an American former

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 professional ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to c ...

who played in

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 (AL), ...

(MLB) for the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team h ...

, and Milwaukee Brewers. He currently is the head baseball coach at his alma mater Azusa Pacific University.

Amateur career

Nieuwenhuis attended Denver Christian High School in

Lakewood, Colorado The City of Lakewood is the home rule municipality that is the most populous municipality in Jefferson County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 155,984 at the 2020 U.S. Census making Lakewood the fifth most populous city in Col ...

where he played football,

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

and baseball. As a football player, Nieuwenhuis was an elusive

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback to rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball, and block. Ther ...

who led Denver Christian to a state championship and received scholarship offers from

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

, Colorado State and

Air Force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an ...

. However, Nieuwenhuis feared that he lacked the size to succeed as a football player at the next level and that he would be converted to a wide receiver and made to

redshirt Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to: Entertainment * ''Red Shirts'' (film), a 1952 film about Anita Garibaldi by Franco Rossi * Redshirt (stock character), originally derived from ''Star Trek'', a stock character who dies soon after ...

as a freshman. He therefore decided to focus on baseball. As a high school baseball player, Nieuwenhuis was a lightly recruited second baseman and

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 draw ...

whose

fastball The fastball is the most common type of pitch thrown by pitchers in baseball and softball. " Power pitchers," such as former American major leaguers Nolan Ryan and Roger Clemens, rely on speed to prevent the ball from being hit, and have thr ...

reached 90 miles per hour. Nieuwenhuis played three seasons of baseball at Azusa Pacific University in Azusa, California. There he led the Cougars to back-to-back NAIA World Series appearances in 2007 and 2008 and set school career records in runs scored, with 190, and triples, with 12.

Professional career

New York Mets

Nieuwenhuis was drafted by the

in the third round of the

2008 Major League Baseball draft The 2008 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft continued Major League Baseball's annual amateur draft of high school and college baseball players, and was held on June 5 and 6, 2008. First round selections ;Key Supplemental first ro ...

out of the Azusa Pacific University. In the minors, Nieuwenhuis primarily was a center fielder, and after hitting .298 in Triple-A Buffalo, Nieuwenhuis was added to the Mets 40 man roster on November 18, 2011. After performing well during his debut with the Mets, Nieuwenhuis garnered the moniker "Captain Kirk" from Mets fans, in reference to the fictional

Captain Kirk James Tiberius Kirk is a fictional character in the '' Star Trek'' media franchise. Originally played by Canadian actor William Shatner, Kirk first appeared in '' Star Trek'' serving aboard the starship USS ''Enterprise'' as captain. Kirk lea ...

from the 1960s television series '' Star Trek''.

2008–2011

Nieuwenhuis began his professional career with the

Brooklyn Cyclones The Brooklyn Cyclones are a Minor League Baseball team of the South Atlantic League and the High-A affiliate of the New York Mets. They are based in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, and play at Maimonides Park, just off the Coney Island Boar ...

in the

New York–Penn League The New York–Penn League (NYPL) was a Minor League Baseball league that operated in the northeastern United States from 1939 to 2020. Classified as a Class A Short Season league, its season started in June, after major-league teams signed th ...

, where he played 74 games and hit .277. Nieuwenhuis had 15 doubles, five triples and three home runs among 79 hits in 319 plate appearances. Following his first professional season, Nieuwenhuis continued to play well throughout the Mets' Minor League system. He played at every level, finishing the 2010 campaign at Triple-A Buffalo. In 2011, Nieuwenhuis was shut down with a torn labrum in his non-throwing shoulder. It cost him most of the second half of his season.

2012

Nieuwenhuis was called up by the Mets on April 7, 2012, to replace the injured Andrés Torres. Nieuwenhuis got his first major league hit, an infield single, on the same day he was called up; Nieuwenhuis finished the day 2-4. On April 9, in only his second start and third major league game, Nieuwenhuis hit his first Major League

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

against Nationals pitcher Edwin Jackson. On April 27, he hit a walk-off single against the Miami Marlins off of Marlins closer

Heath Bell Heath Justin Bell (born September 29, 1977) is an American former professional baseball relief pitcher. As a closer with the San Diego Padres from 2009 to 2011, Bell was a three-time All-Star and twice won the Rolaids Relief Man Award. He was ...

giving the Mets the series sweep against the Marlins. Though he garnered early

National League Rookie of the Year In Major League Baseball, the Rookie of the Year Award is given annually to two outstanding rookie players, one each for the American League (AL) and National League (NL), as voted on by the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA). The aw ...

consideration for his .297 average, six home runs and superlative outfield defense through June 15, Nieuwenhuis batted .123 with one home run after that date, striking out in more than 44 percent of his plate appearances. By July 28, Nieuwenhuis was batting .252 with 7 home runs and 28 RBIs and on July 30, he was optioned to the Mets Triple-A affiliate, the Buffalo Bisons, to make way for

Mike Baxter Michael Joseph Baxter (born December 7, 1984) is an American former professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Diego Padres, New York Mets, Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago Cubs. He is now a hitting co ...

and

Jason Bay Jason Raymond Bay (born September 20, 1978) is a Canadian-American former professional baseball left fielder. Bay played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Diego Padres, Pittsburgh Pirates, Boston Red Sox, New York Mets and Seattle Marin ...

who were coming off of the disabled list. On August 6 while with Buffalo, Nieuwenhuis was diagnosed with a partial tear of the

plantar fascia The plantar fascia is the thick connective tissue ( aponeurosis) which supports the arch on the bottom (plantar side) of the foot. It runs from the tuberosity of the calcaneus (heel bone) forward to the heads of the metatarsal bones (the bon ...

in his right foot, which occurred while running down the first-base line just days after being optioned by the Mets. He reported to Port St. Lucie for rehab, then on August 22, he was shut down for the rest of the season to heal his foot. Through 91 games and 282 at bats, Niewenhuis was batting .252 with 7 home runs and 28 RBIs, while playing the outfield for the Mets.

2013–2015

In late April, Nieuwenhuis was demoted to the Triple-A

Buffalo Bisons The Buffalo Bisons (known colloquially as the Herd) are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. Located in Buffalo, New York, the team plays their home games at Sahlen ...

after hitting 2 for 16 for the Mets in April. However, he was called back up to the Mets to take

Rick Ankiel Richard Alexander Ankiel (; born July 19, 1979) is an American former professional baseball outfielder and pitcher who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Cardinals, Kansas City Royals, Atlanta Braves, Washington Nationals, Ho ...

's spot on the roster. Nieuwenhuis had been hitting .232 at Triple-A before his promotion. On June 10, 2013, Nieuwenhuis was again called up to the Mets playing center field. Nieuwenhuis played in 61 games with the Mets in 2014. Over 112 at-bats he hit .259 with an .828 OPS and three home runs. Nieuwenhuis was designated for assignment on May 19, 2015.

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

Nieuwenhuis was traded to the

for cash considerations on May 27, 2015. He was designated for assignment on June 10.

Second stint with the New York Mets

Nieuwenhuis was claimed by the

17 days after the Mets traded him to the

. Nieuwenhuis was sent to the Las Vegas 51s and was later promoted back to the

on July 6, 2015. On July 12, 2015, he hit three home runs in a game against the

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks (colloquially known as the D-backs) are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The ...

. He was the first player to accomplish this at Citi Field. He is the tenth player in franchise history to hit three home runs in one game and the first to do so in a Mets' home game. When interviewed after his exceptional game that day, Kirk commented in response to his critics: "there's more to life than baseball". On July 29,

Lucas Duda Lucas Christopher Duda (born February 3, 1986) is an American former professional baseball first baseman who played most of his Major League Baseball career for the New York Mets. He was the starting first baseman for the 2015 Mets team that wo ...

joined Nieuwenhuis as the second Met to accomplish the feat at home. On September 8, 2015, Nieuwenhuis hit a pinch-hit, go-ahead home run off

Jonathan Papelbon Jonathan Robert Papelbon (; born November 23, 1980) is an American former professional baseball relief pitcher. He played 12 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), most notably for the Boston Red Sox, with whom he was an All-Star in four cons ...

of the Nationals, breaking an eighth inning tie and handing the Mets an 8-7 win, a game in which the Mets had once trailed 7-1. After their third consecutive comeback win the next day, the Mets swept the Nats, moving themselves to 7.0 games ahead in the NL East.

Milwaukee Brewers

On December 23, 2015, Nieuwenhuis was claimed by the Milwaukee Brewers off of waivers. Nieuwenhuis was one of nine players competing to be the Brewers center fielder for the 2016 season. On December 3, 2016, Nieuwenhuis and the Brewers agreed to a one-year, $900,000 contract for the 2017 season. He was designated for assignment on April 21, 2017.

Seattle Mariners

On November 14, 2017, Nieuwenhuis signed a minor league contract with the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The team joined the American League as an expansion team ...

. He was assigned to AAA

Tacoma Rainiers The Tacoma Rainiers are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Seattle Mariners. They are located in Tacoma, Washington, and play their home games at Cheney Stadium, which opened in 1960 ...

for the 2018 season. Nieuwenhuis was released by the organization on August 2, 2018.

Long Island Ducks

On March 19, 2019, Nieuwenhuis signed with the Long Island Ducks of the independent Atlantic League of Professional Baseball.

Retirement

On July 12, 2019, Nieuwenhuis retired from baseball.

Personal life

Nieuwenhuis and his wife Bethany married in 2013. In 2020, Nieuwenhuis went back Azusa Pacific University, and has since been the hitting coordinator for the baseball team. He was named the head coach in December 2021.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nieuwenhuis, Kirk 1987 births Living people American people of Dutch descent Baseball players from Santa Monica, California Major League Baseball outfielders Major League Baseball center fielders New York Mets players Los Angeles Angels players Milwaukee Brewers players Azusa Pacific Cougars baseball players Brooklyn Cyclones players St. Lucie Mets players Binghamton Mets players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Mesa Solar Sox players Las Vegas 51s players Colorado Springs Sky Sox players Tacoma Rainiers players Long Island Ducks players Azusa Pacific Cougars baseball coaches