Wil Nieves

Infobox MLB player|

width = 200
caption=Nieves with the Nationals in 2008.
name= Wil Nieves
position= Catcher
team= Washington Nationals
number=53
bats=Right
throws=Right
birthdate=birth date and age|1977|9|25
debutdate=July 21
debutyear=2002
debutteam=San Diego Padres
statyear=August 12, 2008
stat1label=Batting average
stat1value=.209
stat2label=Home Runs
stat2value=1
stat3label=RBIs
stat3value=24
teams=
*San Diego Padres (by|2002)
*New York Yankees (by|2005-by|2007)
*Washington Nationals (by|2008-present)

Wilbert Nieves (born September 25, 1977 in San Juan, Puerto Rico) is a catcher in Major League Baseball for the Washington Nationals organization. His elder brother is Melvin Nieves. He made his major league debut on July 21, 2002 for the San Diego Padres, and played 28 games with them during the 2002 San Diego Padres season.

Nieves had previously 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 by|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.

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 the 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." [cite web|url=http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070721&content_id=2101629&vkey=news_nyy&fext=.jsp&c_id=nyy|title=Yankees acquire Molina from Angels|accessdate=2008-04-08]

Nieves cleared waivers, and reported to the Yankees AAA team Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees on July 27, 2007. Nieves was the starting catcher for Scranton. Nieves 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 AAA 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.

References

External links

* [http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/team/player.jsp?player_id=408242 Player Information]
* [http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/N/Wil-Nieves.shtml Baseball Cube stats]
* [http://www.baseball-reference.com/n/nievewi01.shtml Baseball-Reference.com]