Position: RHP
Height: 6’3”
Weight: 225 lbs
Throws: Right
Born: 02/22/1999
College: Ball State University
Drafted: 2nd Rd., 61st Overall, 2020 (Marlins)
How Acquired: Trade (with Marlins for Jacobs Stallings)
Bonus: $1,129,700
40-man Roster: Yes
Rule 5 Eligible: N/A
Minor League Free Agency: N/A
Options Left: 2
Overview
Miami selected Nicolas in the 2020 draft with its Competitive Balance Round B pick. Baseball America rated him 68th in the draft pool. At the time he had a mid-90s fastball that reached triple digits. As a starter in the minors, he’s been throwing 92-95, but he jumped up to about 97 as a reliever. He features two above-average breaking balls. He’s tried to develop a change, but without much success. The Pirates acquired Nicolas in the Jacob Stallings trade.
2020-21
DNP
The pandemic kept Nicolas out of action in 2020. BA rated him 17th in the Marlins’ system after the season. In 2021, the Marlins assigned Nicolas aggressively to High-A, where he made a dozen starts and one relief appearance. He had a very high K rate of 13.0 K/9 there, but had severe gopher ball problems, allowing 13, or one every four and a half innings. Five of those home runs came in two bad outings in July. In his next outing, though, Nicolas fanned ten over six, three-hit innings and Miami moved him up to AA. He dominated in five starts there before seemingly running out of gas in his last three. Control was obviously a problem in AA, but opponents batted only .167 and he gave up just three home runs.
2022-23
Nicolas spent the 2022 season as a starter at Altoona. He didn’t throw a lot of innings, averaging just under four per start after averaging just under five in 2021 in AA. As you’d expect, the shorter starts went with high pitch counts and walk totals; he had a 4.7 BB/9. Nicolas had a solid season overall, with a 3.97 ERA, but didn’t really improve over the course of the season, which probably played a role in the lack of a promotion to AAA. He had a fairly large platoon split, allowing an OPS of .740 to left-handed batters and .625 to right-handed batters.
In 2023, the Pirates sent Nicolas back to AA for a third season. He got his BB/9 down to 3.9, but he got hit harder than in the past and had a 4.36 ERA. In mid-June, the Pirates promoted Nicolas to Indianapolis. At first, he served mostly as a starter and had a very rough time. The Pirates moved him to the bullpen and it seemed to turn things around for him. Before the switch, he had an ERA of 9.00 and BB/9 of 7.4. Afterward, 2.05 and 4.09. Near the end of the season, the Pirates called him up. In his first game, he allowed six earned runs while retiring one batter. In his next three, he gave up one run over five innings, while striking out seven.
2024
Nicolas opened the 2024 season in Indianapolis. He was very hard to hit through nine games, allowing just two hits and striking out 13 over 10.2 IP, but he walked nine. The Pirates called him up at the end of April and he spent the rest of the season with them until he missed the last two weeks with an oblique strain, appearing in 51 games. He could be very effective at times, but he was also prone to control meltdowns. In one notorious outing — Paul Skenes’ debut game — Nicolas hit a batter and issued three straight bases-loaded walks. On the season, Nicolas had a 3.95 ERA and 1.50 WHIP. He walked 5.1 per nine innings and struck out 9.1. He had a slight reverse platoon split.
Stats
Transactions
July 11, 2020: Drafted by the Miami Marlins in the 2nd round, 61st overall pick; signed on July 15.
November 29, 2021: Traded by the Miami Marlins with Zach Thompson and Connor Scott to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Jacob Stallings.
September 19, 2023: Contract purchased by the Pittsburgh Pirates.