The Mariners have released veteran outfielder Kirk Nieuwenhuis from their Triple-A affiliate in Tacoma, as tweeted by Rainiers broadcaster Mike Curto,
Nieuwenhuis, 31 next week, has had a tough season in spite of an outstanding 14.8 percent walk rate, hitting just .214/.336/.336 in 324 trips to the plate. While he’s appeared at all three outfield positions with the Rainiers in 2018, the vast majority of his time has been spent in right field. The longtime Mets outfielder has seen his strikeout rates in the upper minors climb at an alarming rate over the past few seasons, culminating in this year’s career-worst 30.6 percent mark.
That said, Nieuwenhuis has a lifetime .253/.348/.441 mark in parts of eight seasons at the Triple-A level and comes with plenty of MLB experience as well. He’s logged just over 1100 plate appearances between the Mets, Brewers and Angels, hitting at a .221/.311/.384 clip. He averaged 80 games and 217 PAs per year at the MLB level from 2012-16 and appeared in 16 games with 31 PAs as a member of the Brewers organization in 2017. He’ll probably latch on elsewhere as a depth option for a club that’s thin on outfield depth, with the hopes of returning the bigs for a seventh consecutive season.
Maybe Indians
The Indians already have too many AAAA outfielders.
Absolutely not.
Back to the Mets…
Why not? They’ve brought him back before. That team loves bringing the band back: Reyes, Bruce, den Dekker, Vargas, Ty Kelly…
Hey Dick Williams and crew, his ba is better than Hamilton!!
Hahahahahaha
I’m thinking maybe the Marlins to finish out the season. Kirk Nieuwenhuis sweepstakes watch!! LOL
I’m betting he goes to the Rangers
We are loaded on outfielder but if he can pitch. We got a spot for him
Hes still around
Long Island?
He will be signed by some playoff minded team at the AAA level for the rest of the month to guard against injuries but I doubt he gets a MLB sniff until then or at all. He’s just not that good.
Niewenhuis is filling the void left by Drew Stubbs who spent most of his career bouncing from team to team as an all glove/no stick option.