Kyle Nicolas

Nicolas possesses some tantalizing skills - he throws in the upper-90s and boasts an outstanding curveball - but he's struggled to produce at the big-league level. Through 98 career innings, the 26-year-old holds a 1.48 WHIP, 12.2 percent walk rate and modest 22.0 percent strikeout rate. Considering he struck out 12.5 batters per nine innings at the Triple-A level, there is room for improvement. Perhaps Nicolas just needs to toss fewer fastballs? The right-hander has thrown his four-seamer 50-plus percent of the time in each of his three seasons, but it hasn't performed particularly well. Meanwhile, Nicolas' curveball (22 percent usage in 2025) stifled opposing hitters, holding them to a .040 batting average and .040 slugging last season; the best marks for that pitch type (minimum 100 thrown). Nicolas' ratios might always be a problem, but he has potential to strike out 100-plus batters in a season if tweaks his pitch percentage. Read Past Outlooks