Elvin Nina

From BR Bullpen

Elvin Alexis Nina

BR minors page

Biographical Information[edit]

Elvin Nina pitched as high as AAA seven different years, but never made the majors.

Nina was picked by the Oakland A's in the 15th round of the 1997 amateur draft. He was 1-3 with a save and a 5.23 ERA that year for the Southern Oregon Timberjacks. In '98, he was with the Visalia Oaks (8-8, 4.49, 131 K in 130 1/3 IP) and Edmonton Trappers (1/3 IP, 2 BB, 1 H). He began 1999 with the Modesto A's (5-2, 2.09, 74 K, 2 HR in 73 1/3 IP) and Midland Rockhounds (3-2, 4.80). On July 29, 1999, Nina was traded by the Oakland Athletics with Jeff Davanon and Nathan Haynes to the Anaheim Angels for Omar Olivares and Randy Velarde. Assigned to the Erie SeaWolves, he went 3-0 with a 4.07 ERA following the transaction.

Nina split 2000 between Erie (2-4, 4.24) and the Edmonton Trappers (6 R, 3 ER in 9 1/3 IP). In '01, he turned in a 10-11, 5.47 record for the Salt Lake Stingers. He led all Angels farmhands with 79 walks that season. During 2002, the veteran hurler was 5-9 with a 4.64 ERA for Salt Lake. In 2003, he bounced all over - the Vero Beach Dodgers (5 R in 5 IP, only 2 earned), Jacksonville Suns (1-0, 2.77, 10 BB in 13 IP), Cafeteros de Cordoba (0-3, 9.39) and Newark Bears (2-2, Sv, 7.00).

Elvin continued his wandering in 2004 with Jacksonville (5-2, 2 Sv, 2.50, 64 K in 57 2/3 IP), the Las Vegas 51s (0-2, 6.75) and the Omaha Royals (0-1, 6.75). He joined his 5th MLB organization in '05 by signing with the Arizona Diamondbacks. He saw action that year for the Tennessee Smokies (0-1, 6.43) and Tucson Sidewinders (1-0, 5.91) before being let go. He caught on with Taiwan's La New Bears but saw little action (1-2, 6.06) before being released again. He ended his career in 2006 with the Road Warriors (2-3, 4.13).

Nina was a counselor for students in Arizona in 2007-2008 before returning to baseball as pitching coach for the Helena Brewers in 2009-2013 and Wisconsin Timber Rattlers in 2014. He moved to the Pittsburgh Pirates' chain as a pitching coach for the GCL Pirates in 2015-2017.

In 2018 Nina joined the Atlanta Braves' player development staff, but continued to coach in the Gulf Coast League. He was the pitching coach for the 2018-2019 GCL Braves and was scheduled to return there in 2020 before the minor league season was cancelled due to COVID-19. Nina moved up a level in 2021 as pitching coach for the Augusta GreenJackets. He returned to the rookie level FCL Braves as pitching coach in 2022-2023. Nina returned to Augusta in 2024.

Sources[edit]