On April 15, 1987, Nieves threw a no-hitter against the Baltimore Orioles, becoming the second-youngest player in Major League history to do so. He threw the only no-hitter for the Brewers until 2021.[3][4] Nieves' no-hitter became the first ever thrown by a Puerto Rican in Major League Baseball. Nieves was mostly a starter, but on September 5, 1988, he did earn his only career save against the White Sox. He threw one perfect inning, closing out a 5–2 Brewers victory and saving the game for starter Don August.[5]
After playing for the Brewers from 1986 to 1988, he suffered a career-ending arm injury.[2]
Coaching career
Nieves worked as a minor league pitching instructor for the New York Yankees (1992–1996) and the White Sox (1999–2007) before joining the Chicago White SoxMajor League staff as the bullpen coach serving for the next five seasons.[6] He was mentored by Don Cooper, first when Cooper was the White Sox' roving coordinator in their minor league hierarchy, and later when Cooper became the pitching coach of the Sox.[7] They became really close, adapting similar pitching styles, and Nieves was named as "Cooper's right-hand man".[7] He was named Boston's 2013 pitching coach on November 7, 2012. He brought over Cooper's style of pitching to the Red Sox organization.[7] Nieves led the Red Sox to the second lowest earned run average in the American League as the team went on to win the World Series.[7] After the Red Sox earned the second highest team ERA (4.86) to start the 2015 season, Nieves was dismissed by the team on May 7, 2015.[8]
Nieves spent the next three seasons as pitching coach for the Miami Marlins, being dismissed after the 2018 season.[9]
On November 6, 2020, the Detroit Tigers named Nieves as the team's assistant pitching coach for the 2021 season.[10] Nieves had spent the previous two seasons as the pitching coach for the Toledo Mud Hens, the Tigers Triple-A affiliate.[11]
