Melvin Nieves

Melvin Ramos Nieves

• Bats Both, Throws Right
• Height 6' 2", Weight 210 lb.
• High School Luis Pales Matos High School
• Debut September 1, 1992
• Final Game September 14, 1998
• Born December 28, 1971 in San Juan, P.R.

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Biographical Information

Melvin "Mel" Nieves was signed by the Atlanta Braves in 1988. His uncle (by marriage) is José Morales.

Nieves started his professional career fairly poorly. In 56 games with the GCL Braves in 1988, he batting average was a poor .170. He was only 16 years old at that time.

His time with the Pulaski Braves in 1989 was a great improvement. He played 64 games with them that year, hitting .277 with 9 home runs and 64 RBI. He continued his improvement in 1990, hitting .283 with 9 home runs and 59 RBI in 126 games with the Sumter Braves. His 10 stolen bases was a professional career high that he would match only once more in his career.

His 1991 season with the Durham Bulls was less stellar than his previous season - he hit only .264 - but he remained consistent in the home run category, again hitting 9.

He did very well in 1992, hitting a combined 26 home runs between the Bulls and Greenville Braves. This prompted his promotion to the Majors, and he made his debut with the big league Braves on September 1st. At the age of 20, he was the youngest person to don a big league uniform that season. His first stint in the majors was less than impressive: in 19 at-bats, he hit only .211. He collected his first big league hit off the infamous Anthony Young of the New York Mets in his second career at-bat on September 2nd.

He started the 1993 season in the Braves system, hitting .278 with 10 home runs in 78 games with the Richmond Braves, before being traded with minor leaguer Vince Moore and Donnie Elliott to the San Diego Padres for Fred McGriff in July. In 43 games with the Padres' AAA team, the Las Vegas Stars, he hit .308 with 7 home runs. He spent 19 games in the Majors in 1993, hitting an unimpressive .191. He did hit his first career home run that season, a solo shot off pitcher Chris Hammond on September 8th. He was the seventh youngest player to don a uniform in 1993. According to Baseball America, he was the 39th best prospect in 1993.

His 1994 season was perhaps the best of his professional career. Baseball America says he was the 69th best prospect in 1994. In 406 at-bats with Las Vegas, he blasted 25 home runs and drove in 92 runs, all the while hitting .308. A poor eye at the plate led him to 138 strikeouts, though. In spite of that, he got another look in the majors, where he for once was somewhat impressive: in 19 at-bats with the Padres, he hit .263. He spent all of 1995 with the Padres. In 234 at-bats, he hit only .205 with 88 strikeouts. His 14 home runs were overshadowed by the large number of whiffs. He hit the only two grand slams of his career in 1995. The first came off Terry Mulholland on August 2nd and the second off Doug Henry on August 26th.

His lack of improvement over his time in their organization prompted the Padres to trade him on March 22, 1996 - just before the beginning of the season. He went to the Detroit Tigers with Raul Casanova and Richie Lewis in return for Sean Bergman, Todd Steverson and Cade Gaspar, a minor leaguer.

His 1996 season was undoubtedly the best of his career, but overall not a great season. He played in 120 games with Detroit that season, hitting 24 home runs and driving in 60 RBI. His batting average was only .246, though, and he struck out 158 times in 431 at-bats, a Rob Deer-esque output. Perhaps the most memorable game of his 1996 season was on April 6th against the Oakland Athletics when he collected two doubles, a triple and a home run. Twice in 1996 he also accomplished the fairly rare feat of hitting home runs from both sides of the plate in a game. The first time he did it was against the Milwaukee Brewers on July 15th - he victimized pitchers Ricky Bones and Mike Potts. The next time he did it was on August 20th against the Chicago White Sox. In that game, he victimized pitchers Kevin Tapani and Rich Sauveur. Oddly, those were the only two games in his career in which he hit two or more home runs.

Although he hit 20 home runs in 1997 for Detroit, his batting average again was sub-par at .228, and he struck out 157 times in 359 at-bats. His 158 strikeouts in 1996 and 157 strikeouts in 1997 were second most by a batter each year, trailing only Jay Buhner both times.

On November 11, 1997, he was traded from the Tigers to the Cincinnati Reds for Paul Bako and Donne Wall. Although he played 15 games and hit .283 in the minors with the Indianapolis Indians in 1998, he spent most of the season as a bench player with the Reds, getting 119 at-bats in 83 games. He hit .252 in that time. That would be the last of the majors he would see. He played his final game on September 14th. He finished his big league career hitless in his last 10 at-bats.

Although his big league career was over, his professional career was far from it. From 1998 to 2008, he bounced around the baseball planet, playing affiliated, foreign and independent baseball. He played two seasons in Japan with the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks in 1999 and 2000, hitting 17 and 15 homers, but a .216 batting average the second year ended his stint across the Pacific. He also spent time in Mexico and in the Atlantic League, just to name a few locations. He played 16 games with the Joliet Jackhammers of the Northern League in 2006 and also appeared briefly with Vaqueros Laguna in the Mexican League in 2008 to put an end to his professional career. He also played winter ball for the Santurce Crabbers of the Puerto Rican Winter Baseball League.

Overall, he hit .231 with 63 home runs and 187 RBI in the Majors. He played in 458 games, collected 284 hits, walked 136 times and struck out 483 times. According to Baseball Reference, he is most similar to Ryan Thompson. He spent seven professional seasons with Tony Tarasco - longer than any other teammate.

The numbers he wore in his career were 7 (1992), 10 (1993), 3 (1994-1995), 30 (1996-1997) and 46 (1998).

At last check, he lived in Southern Pines, NC. In February 2022, he was arrested after taking several churchgoers hostage during service and threatening to kill them. He was subdued after a half-hour standoff.

Notable Achievements

• 20-Home Run Seasons: 2 (1996 & 1997)

Related Sites

• Article on arrest