Wil Nieves

Wil Nieves
Nieves with the Nationals in 2009
Colorado Rockies
Catcher
Born: September 25, 1977 (1977-09-25) San Juan, Puerto Rico
Bats: Right	Throws: Right
MLB debut
July 21, 2002 for the San Diego Padres
Career statistics (through May 3, 2011)
Batting average	.225
Home runs	5
Runs Batted In	73
Teams
San Diego Padres (2002) New York Yankees (2005–2007) Washington Nationals (2008–2010) Milwaukee Brewers (2011) Colorado Rockies (2012-Present)

Wilbert Nieves (born September 25, 1977, in San Juan, Puerto Rico) is a Puerto Rican professional baseball catcher of Major League Baseball and is currently a free agent.

Career

Nieves made his major league debut on July 21, 2002, for the San Diego Padres, and played 28 games with them during their 2002 season.

Nieves later played for the New York Yankees, having been acquired by the team from the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim for pitcher Bret Prinz. Nieves won a spot on the Yankees 2007 roster by beating out Todd Pratt and Raul Chavez during spring training. He served as the back-up catcher to Jorge Posada, but was primarily considered Mike Mussina's "personal catcher." Joe Torre experimented with using Nieves to help bolster Mussina out of a rough stretch with good results.

Nieves made his first career non-catching appearance in the ninth inning of a game on July 8, 2007, against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim; he played first base when the Yankees ran low on position players.

Nieves playing with the Milwaukee Brewers in 2011.

Following an impressive 2-for-3 performance against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays on July 21, 2007, Nieves was designated for assignment by the Yankees following news that they had acquired José Molina from the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Though respected as a good defensive catcher, Nieves hit just .164 for the Yankees.

"It's just business and I really want this team to go all the way to the playoffs and, hopefully, win the World Series," Nieves said. "They're a bunch of great guys. I love them, Torre and all those guys. They can improve the backup catcher and they're bringing in Molina. He's a great catcher, too."

Nieves cleared waivers, and reported to the Yankees' Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees on July 27, 2007. Nieves was the starting catcher for Scranton. He declared free agency in October 2007. He played for Licey in the Dominican Winter League during the off season.

He started the 2008 season in the Washington Nationals organization with the Triple-A Columbus Clippers of the International League. On April 25, 2008, Nieves hit his first major-league home run, a walk-off home run to right field, to give the Nationals a 5–3 win over the Chicago Cubs. Nieves was the backup catcher to starter Jesus Flores in the 2009 season. Nieves has been the backup catcher for Ivan Rodriguez in 2010.

On December 10, 2010, Nives signed a one-year deal with the Milwaukee Brewers.

He was traded to the Atlanta Braves on July 27, 2011, for cash considerations. He was demoted to Triple-A Gwinnett shortly after.

On December 18, 2011 Nives signed a minor league deal with the Colorado Rockies

External links

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)