Nick Struck

Nicholas A. Struck

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 205 lb.
• School Mount Hood Community College
• High School Clackamas High School

• Born October 7, 1989 in Portland, OR USA

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Pitcher Nick Struck began playing in the minor leagues in 2010 and was still active as of 2023, in spite of not having played in the affiliated minors for almost a decade.

He was drafted by the Chicago Cubs in the 39th round of 2009 amateur draft as a draft-and-follow out of junior college, and signed before the next year's draft in order to begin his pro career in 2010 with the Peoria Chiefs of the Midwest League. He also appeared with the Daytona Cubs of the Florida State League that season, finishing at 9-10, 3.43 in 28 games, including 20 starts. On April 30th, pitching for Peoria, he pitched a five-inning complete game No-hitter against the Clinton Lumberkings. In 2011, he reached AAA while appearing for three teams: Daytona; the Tennessee Smokies of the Southern League; and the Iowa Cubs of the Pacific Coast League. His combined record was 9-7, 3.91 in 28 games, and while his strikeout rate was relatively mediocre (111 in 147 1/3 innings), it was still remarkable for someone drafted that low to have made all of that upward progress in less than two full seasons. But he would never take the final step to the Show, however.

In 2012, he spent a full season at Tennessee at the AA level, with good results, finishing at 14-10, 3.18 in 28 games and 155 2/3 innings. He played in the Arizona Fall League after the season, a sign that he was now considered a serious prospect by the Cubs, as that league is reserved for such players. Indeed, he was named the Cubs' Minor League Pitcher of the Year following the season. In 2013 however, he struggled with Iowa, to the tune of a 6.17 ERA and was sent back down to Tennessee. Overall, he was 7-10, 5.73 in 27 games. He was then released at the end of spring training the following year and was picked up as a free agent by the Los Angeles Dodgers, who assigned him to the AAA Albuquerque Isotopes. However, he was sent down to the AA Chattanooga Lookouts after just two games and spent the rest of the season there, going 5-6, 5.47 in 21 games, still a full-time starter. That marked the end of his time in the affiliated minors.

In 2015, he had to move to the independent leagues to find work and spent that season as well as 2016 with the Long Island Ducks of the Atlantic League, going 5-4, 2.10 as a reliever the first year, and 4-5, 3.35 in 39 games as a swingman the second. He played winter ball with the Venados de Mazatlan in the Mexican Pacific League following the season and evidently enjoyed the experience as he would become a fixture in Mexico over the following year, playing summers in the Mexican League and winters in the MXPL. He went 3-0, 3.09 in 41 games with the Sultanes de Monterrey in La Liga in 2017, then contributed to Mazatlan winning the Pacific league title in 2017-18 when he was 0-1, 1.78 with 10 saves in 21 games. He was then signed by the Caribes de Anzoátegui as a reinforcement for the Venezuelan League playoffs and on January 27th pitched the final inning of a 4-0 shutout of the Cardenales de Lara that gave Anzoategui the title. He went on to play in the 2018 Caribbean Series, not for the Venezuelan champions but as a roster addition for the Tomateros de Culiacan, who represented Mexico in the event. In 2018, he again played for Monterrey but did not appear in winter ball, but in 2019 he was 6-1, 4.34 in the summer, and 0-1, 5.01 in 24 games for their sister team in the Pacific League.

After being forced to sit out the 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he was back with the two Sultanes teams in 2021, going 2-2, 5.89 in the summer, but returning to the Caribbean Series a second time in the winter of 2021-22, when he was added to the roster of the Charros de Jalisco as an extra player for the tournament. Ironically, he had been signed by Culiacan for the league playoffs, but they had lost to Jalisco in in the finals. He made one start in the Caribbean Series, against the Criollos de Caguas, representing Puerto Rico, on January 31st, and pitched brilliantly, allowing no runs in 5 2/3 innings in a 5-0 win. In 2022, he was back to starting full-time with the Toros de Tijuana, going 8-4, 5.50 in 18 games in the summer, then in the winter pitched 5 games for the Gigantes del Cibao, in the Dominican League, before moving to the Caneros de Los Mochis, back in Mexico, for another 5 games. He then added another feat to his impressive resumé on January 28th when he was the winning pitcher in Los Mochis's 5-0 win over the Algodoneros de Guasave in Game 6 of the league finals, giving Los Mochis its first title in 20 years; he allowed one hit in seven shutout innings before turning it over to Fabian Cota.