2026 Stats
W-L
1-0
ERA
8.59
WHIP
2.86
K
7
SV
0
Rest-of-Season Projections
2026 Fantasy Outlook
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
Signed a one-year contract with the Reds in March of 2026.
Optioned to minors
Cincinnati optioned Nicolas to Triple-A Louisville on Saturday.
Analysis
Nicolas spent the past two weeks on the big-league roster and got into seven games, struggling to an 8.59 ERA, 2.86 WHIP and 7:13 K:BB over 7.1 innings. That damage was largely a result of two poor outings during which he yielded a combined seven runs across 1.2 frames; in his other five appearances, he wasn't charged with any earned runs. Nonetheless, Nicolas' awful 31.0 percent walk rate is likely something he'll be tasked with working on while in the minors.
Nicolas spent the past two weeks on the big-league roster and got into seven games, struggling to an 8.59 ERA, 2.86 WHIP and 7:13 K:BB over 7.1 innings. That damage was largely a result of two poor outings during which he yielded a combined seven runs across 1.2 frames; in his other five appearances, he wasn't charged with any earned runs. Nonetheless, Nicolas' awful 31.0 percent walk rate is likely something he'll be tasked with working on while in the minors.
Pitching Stats
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2026 MLB Game Log
2026
2025
2024
2023
Minor League Game Log
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Pitching Appearances Breakdown
Average Pitch Count
28
Last 10 Games
28
Last 5 Games
26
How many pitches does Kyle Nicolas generally throw?
1-10
11-20
21-30
31-40
41-50
51-60
61-70
71-80
81-90
91-100
101-110
111-120
121+
What part of the game does Kyle Nicolas generally pitch?
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th
8th
9th
Extra
% Games Reaching Innings Threshold
% Games By Number of Innings Pitched
Left/Right Pitching Splits
Since 2024
-15%
BAA vs LHP
2026
-63%
BAA vs RHP
| BAA | K | BB | H | HR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Since 2024vs Left | .221 | 41 | 30 | 32 | 2 |
| Since 2024vs Right | .260 | 55 | 32 | 61 | 6 |
| 2026vs Left | .455 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 0 |
| 2026vs Right | .167 | 2 | 9 | 3 | 1 |
| 2025vs Left | .211 | 17 | 11 | 12 | 0 |
| 2025vs Right | .247 | 17 | 7 | 22 | 3 |
| 2024vs Left | .195 | 19 | 15 | 15 | 2 |
| 2024vs Right | .281 | 36 | 16 | 36 | 2 |
Home/Away Pitching Splits
Since 2024
-17%
ERA on Road
2026
-48%
ERA at Home
| ERA | WHIP | IP | K/9 | BB/9 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Since 2024Home | 4.97 | 1.66 | 54.1 | 7.0 | 6.1 |
| Since 2024Away | 4.14 | 1.42 | 45.2 | 10.6 | 4.9 |
| 2026Home | 6.23 | 3.00 | 4.1 | 2.1 | 16.6 |
| 2026Away | 12.00 | 2.67 | 3.0 | 18.0 | 15.0 |
| 2025Home | 3.57 | 1.19 | 22.2 | 6.4 | 3.6 |
| 2025Away | 6.46 | 1.63 | 15.1 | 10.6 | 5.3 |
| 2024Home | 5.93 | 1.83 | 27.1 | 8.2 | 6.6 |
| 2024Away | 1.98 | 1.17 | 27.1 | 9.9 | 3.6 |
Minor League Left/Right Pitching Splits (AAA)
Since 2024
-2%
BAA vs RHP
2026
-37%
BAA vs RHP
| BAA | K | BB | H | HR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Since 2024vs Left | .232 | 32 | 15 | 22 | 1 |
| Since 2024vs Right | .227 | 40 | 22 | 25 | 1 |
| 2026vs Left | .417 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 0 |
| 2026vs Right | .263 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 1 |
| 2025vs Left | .242 | 23 | 8 | 16 | 1 |
| 2025vs Right | .253 | 27 | 12 | 19 | 0 |
| 2024vs Left | .059 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| 2024vs Right | .063 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 0 |
Stat Review
How does Kyle Nicolas compare to other relievers?
This section compares his stats with all relief pitcher seasons from the previous three seasons (minimum 30 innings)*. The bar represents the player's percentile rank. For example, if the bar is halfway across, then the player falls into the 50th percentile for that stat and it would be considered average.
* Exit Velocity, Barrels/BBE %, Balls Hit 95+ MPH %, and Spin Rate are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 30 IP). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.
* Exit Velocity, Barrels/BBE %, Balls Hit 95+ MPH %, and Spin Rate are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 30 IP). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.
K/BB
0.54K/9
8.6BB/9
16.0HR/9
1.2Fastball
96.8 mphERA
8.59WHIP
2.86BABIP
.338GB/FB
0.55Left On Base
71.4%Exit Velocity
80.8 mphBarrels/BBE
0.0%Spin Rate
2467 rpmBalls Hit 95+ MPH
14.8%Swinging Strike
6.1%Prospect Rankings History
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Defensive Stats
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Stats Vs Today's Lineup
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Past Fantasy Outlooks
2024
2023
In most senses, Nicolas had a disappointing 2023 season. He started the campaign by repeating work at Double-A Altoona and had limited success. He was promoted to Triple-A Indianapolis anyway, but after further struggles, he was switched from a starting to relief role. That also didn't prove to be a path to success, but Nicolas was promoted to the major-league roster. That was the positive to his campaign, and he'll now have the chance to compete for a bullpen role in spring training.
More Fantasy News
Recalled from Triple-A
The Reds recalled Nicolas from Triple-A Louisville on Friday.
Analysis
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Optioned to Louisville
Nicolas was optioned to Triple-A Louisville on Sunday.
Analysis
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Flipped to Cincinnati
The Reds acquired Nicolas from the Pirates in exchange for Tyler Callihan on Wednesday.
Analysis
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Activated from bereavement list
The Pirates activated Nicolas from the bereavement list Friday.
Analysis
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Placed on bereavement list
The Pirates placed Nicolas on the bereavement list Friday.
Analysis
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