Fionel Nieves struggled with control, saw 2 pro seasons

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Fionel Nieves 1991 Asheville Tourists baseball card

In previewing the 1991 season, The Asheville Citizen-Times highlighted two of the team's pitchers as control pitchers, then two others, including Fionel Nieves, as having good fastballs.

As it soon turned out, would soon show he was not the former. 

Control issues would soon mean he would see only three starts. That season, his second as a pro, would also be his last. He topped out at single-A.

Nieves' career began in 1990, signed by the Astros two years earlier as a free agent out of his native Dominican Republic.

Nieves started with the Astros in the rookie Gulf Coast League. He got 10 outings, 7 starts. He went 2-3, with a 5.52 ERA in 31 innings. 

Nieves then moved on to Asheville to start 1991. In his first start in mid-April, he threw three first-inning wild pitches and took the loss. He went 3.1 and gave up four earned in his second start. He then walked six and was pulled in the second inning in his third.

By the end of April, Nieves had been sent back to extended spring training. He'd walked 14 total and threw five wild pitches, while allowing eight runs in seven innings. He didn't make it back, marking the end of his career. 

Fionel Nieves 1991 Asheville Tourists baseball card


1990 Minor League Tally 
Players/Coaches Featured:4,508
Made the Majors:1,431-31.7%
Never Made Majors:3,077-68.3%-X
5+ Seasons in the Majors:581
10+ Seasons in the Minors:358

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