Kirk Nieuwenhuis: 2015 NL Champion Mets Reserve Outfielder (2012 - 2015)

Kirk Robert Nieuwenhuis was born on August 7th, 1987, in Santa Monica California. The six-foot three outfielder played three seasons at Azusa University where he set school records in runs scored (190) & triples (12). He led his Cougars team to back-to-back NAIA World Series titles there as well. 

Kirk was drafted out of Azusa by the New York Mets in the third round of the 2008 draft.

He began his career with the A ball Brooklyn Cyclones where hit three HRs & drove in 29 runs while batting .277 in 74 games.

In 2009 Kirk was at A ball St. Lucie hitting .274 before getting pushed up to AA Binghamton. In 2010 he only hit .225 but hit 16 HRs & drove in 60 Runs at Binghamton, getting promoted to AAA Buffalo late in the year.

In 2011 he hit .298 at Buffalo with an excellent .403 on base % along with 6 HRs 14 RBIs & 17 doubles but was shut down in the second half of the year with a torn labrum.

Mets Career: In 2012 Nieuwenhuis got called up to the Mets squad after just one game to replace the injured Andres Torres. He made his MLB debut in the second game of the season getting two hits in the Mets 4-2 win over the Atlanta Braves.

On April 9th he hit a two run HR off Washington's Edwin Jackson in a game the Mets would win on a Daniel Murphy Walk off RBI single. He went on a seven-game hit streak & ended April batting .325 with seven multi-hit games.

Walk Off Hit: On April 26th Nieuwenhuis had a three-hit game at Citi Field vs the Marlins. The Mets went to the bottom of the 9th inning down 2-1. 

But Heath Bell walked four batters tying up the game. Nieuwenhuis then hit a walk off single giving the Mets a dramatic 3-2 win, frustrating the former Mets pitcher Bell.

Captain Kirk: Things went great for Nieuwenhuis as a new member of a surprising 2012 Mets team that was playing well. The long-haired California surfer looking kid, became a quick fan favorite & earned the nick name Captain Kirk. 

Throughout May Kirk kept his average up at .294 & played a fine defensive outfield. 

Multi- Three RBI Game: On June 3rd he had three hits, including a two run HR off the Cardinals Jake Westbrook, in the Mets 6-1 victory & four game series sweep at Citi Field.

Multi HR Game: On June 14th in an inter league game at Tampa, Kirk hit two HRs off the Rays Jeremy Hellickson, in the 9-6 New York win.  

In the 1st inning he hit a solo shot, then a two run shot in the 4th inning for his first career multi-HR game.

The next day as the Mets returned home, he hit another HR, a solo shot in a 7-3 loss to the Cincinnati Reds. 

Nieuwenhuis went into July batting .275 with 7 HRs & 26 RBIs. But in the month, he went just 4-39, with two RBIs & his average fell to .252. He was striking out often enough to put him in the NL's top ten as well (98 Ks in 282 at bats). 

By August 1st he was back down at AAA Las Vegas for the rest of the year. 

With the Mets he had played a good outfield making four assists posting a .982 fielding %.

In the off season, he earned a degree in business management.

2013: Kirk made the club out of Spring Training as a backup outfielder. 

On Opening Day he
made a pinch-hit appearance going 0-1. On April 5th, he drove in his first run of the year in a loss to the Marlins at home.

 But in the month of April he was only batted .125 & was sent back to AAA Las Vegas. He returned to the Mets on June 9th. 

Walk Off HR: On June 16th, the Mets were down 3-0 to the Cubs in the bottom of the 9th inning. Marlon Byrd led off with a HR to narrow the lead. Lucas Duda drew a walk & John singled. Nieuwenhuis came up with two on & one out & was the hero of the game hitting a three-run walk off HR off Calos Marmol for the exciting comeback win.

In July, Nieuwenhuis hit two more HRs, but both coming in Mets losing efforts.

Multi- Five RBI Game: On July 5th at Miller Park in Milwaukee, he had one of his most productive days in the big leagues, gathering four hits & five RBIs, helping Jeremy Hefner to a 12-5 win.

 In the 1st inning he walked with the bases loaded. In the top of the 2nd, he singled with the bases loaded to score two more runs. In the 4th he had another RBI single, then topped off the big game with a 9th inning Triple, scoring David Wright. The Five RBIs were a career high.

On July 27th, he was sent back down to AAA Las Vegas as Jenry Mejia was added to the 25-man roster. Kirk hit .248 with 14 HRs & 37 RBIs in 74 games there.

2014: The Mets had an oversupply of outfielders from off season transactions & Nieuwenhuis was the odd man out, he started out the season at AAA Las Vegas.

He got called up when Chris Young went down with injury.

Multi- Three RBI Game: On April 15th, in his return he became the first Met since Carlos Beltran in 2005, to have at least three hits, a HR & three RBIs in a season debut. In his first at bat in Arizona, Nieuwenhuis had an RBI single. In the top of the 4th inning, he hit a two run HR off Arizona's Bronson Arroyo leading his team in a 9-0 win over the D-backs. 

On April 23rd, he threw out the Cardinals Matt Carpenter at home plate in the bottom of the 9th inning in what would have been the games tying run. Earlier Nieuwenhuis had drawn a bases loaded walk to put the Mets ahead. They went on to a 3-2 win.

His numbers fell off & he was sent back down to AAA Las Vegas at the end of April. He was brought back up to the Mets squad in late June.

Four Straight Doubles: On June 20th, he collected a pinch hit double in his return, coming in a Mets loss to the Marlins. 

On June 22nd he got a start & hit a pair of doubles in his first two at bats driving in a run in an 11-5 Mets win in South Florida. Dating back to the game before he was sent down, he became the first Mets player to hit doubles in four straight at bats.

On July 6th, Nieuwenhuis hit a HR in an 8-4 win over Texas at Citi Field. Later that week, he
drove in runs in back-to-back wins over Atlanta. 

Kirk kept his average above .300 until July 12th. Then he went 0-11 falling to .246. He was sent back down to AAA Las Vegas for the third time on the year.

On August 5th he once again returned & hit safely in three of his first four games. In the first game he drove in a run in the Mets 6-2 win over the Nat's. 

On September 3rd, he hit a two run HR off the Marlins Tom Koehler helping the Mets to a 4-3 win in Miami. He finished the year at .259 with 3 HRs 14 doubles & 16 RBIs. 

Trivia: Of his 29 hits, 18 of them were extra base hits, making him only the second player to have that many extra base hits with so few singles in a season. He also batted .339 with runners on base.

2015 NL Pennant Season: Kirk struggled mightily to start the season, batting just .079 through the end of May. His contract was purchased by the Los Angeles Angels where in ten games he hit .136 (2-24) & was then placed on waivers. 

He was picked up again by the New York Mets & sent to AAA Las Vegas. From June 16th to June 30th, he hit ten HRs in eleven games.

On July 6th, he was brought back up while the Mets were in San Francisco. He doubled & scored a run in a 3-0 Jonathan Niese shut out over the Giants. 

First Met to Hit 3 HRs In a Citi field Game: In a July 12th Sunday afternoon game against Arizona, Nieuwenhuis made Mets history at Citi Field as he became the first Met to ever hit three HRs in a home game.

In the bottom of the 2nd inning, he led off with his first HR of the day, coming off pitcher Rubby Delarosa. The next inning, he hit his second HR off Delarosa a two-run shot, putting the Mets up 4-1. 

In the 5th inning, he led off with a HR off Randall Delgado, for his third HR of the game. 

Trivia: In 53 Mets seasons, Nieuwenhuis became the tenth Met to hit three HRs in a game, but never before had anyone done it at home. 

Quotes- Kirk Nieuwenhuis: "It's been a wild ride, for sure today was a lot of fun."

The Mets won the game 5-3 in their final game before the All-Star break. They finished the first half of the season in second place just two games out.

On July 22nd he drove in two runs in Mets 4-3 loss to the Washington Nationals. 

On July 25th he had another one of his biggest games. He collected four hits with three singles & a double, while driving in four runs in the Mets 15-2 romp over the Los Angeles Dodgers. 

In August he went on the DL with neck & shoulder discomfort.

Pinch Hit HR: On September 8th, Kirk had another heroic game coming at Washington D.C. 

In the top of the 8th, with the score tied at seven, he came in to pinch hit against Nat's closer Jonathan Papelbon. 

Nieuwenhuis connected for his first pinch hit HR, which proved to be the games winning run in the Mets 8-7 win putting them six games ahead of Washington in the standings.

Since his July 6th return, Nieuwenhuis batted .279 during the playoff race. He hit 4 HRs 7 doubles with 11RBIs & a .922 OPS in 37 games. In the outfield he had two assists while making no errors.

 

2015 Post Season-NLCS: In the NLCS sweep over the Chicago Cubs, Nieuwenhuis came on in the 5th inning of Game #4 & stayed in the game going 0-2. He was on the field as the Mets celebrated the final out clinching the NL Pennant.

2015 World Series: Kirk got two pinch hit at bats in the World Series loss to the Kansas City Royals.

In Game #1 he came to bat in the 13th inning & made the third out popping up against pitcher Chris Young with a runner on.

In Game #3 at Citi Field, he struck out in the 7th inning in the Mets 9-3 win.

He finished off Game #4 playing in centerfield coming in as a 9th inning defensive replacement.

After the Pennant: That December he was placed on waivers & was picked up by the Milwaukee Brewers where he was the Brew Crews main centerfielder in 2016. 

Post Mets Career: Kirk went 0-10 against the Mets at Citi Field in a May 2016 series. In 125 games that year he batted just .209 & struck out 133 times. He did hit 13 HRs with 18 doubles & 44 RBIs.

In 2017 he had a horrendous April, batting just .088 & was sent down to AAA Colorado Springs, then was designated for assignment. He was signed by the Seattle Mariners but did not make the major league team & was released in August 2018.

Long Island Ducks: In 2019 he played for the Long Island Ducks in the Atlantic Independent League.

In a six-year MLB career, the outfielder has played 413 games with a.20 batting average, hitting 31 HRs with 215 hits 59 doubles 20 stolen bases & 117 RBIs.

Retirement: In 2020 Nieuwenhuis became a coach at Azusa Pacific University, where he attended school & played.

Family: He & his wife Bethany were married in 2013. They reside in Bothell Washington. Bethany was born in California & later attended Citrus Community College. She then worked for Cosmopolitan Events.