Reds President Nick Krall Sees Big Potential in New Reliever Kyle Nicolas

The Reds made an interesting trade earlier this week, shipping 19th-ranked prospect Tyler Callihan to the Pittsburgh Pirates for right-handed relief pitcher, Kyle Nicolas.

While Nicolas's overall stats don't 'wow' you, he's got great stuff and the Reds think highly of him.

“It was a guy we can get who’s a power arm and has a chance to pitch in the back of the bullpen,” Reds President of Baseball Operations Nick Krall told Charlie Goldsmith of Charlie's Chalkboard. “This is a move for now and for the future. We have a lot of guys competing for the last couple of spots. We also know we’re going to have to build our bullpen year-in, year-out. We have at the end of this year a group of guys who are going to be free agents in the bullpen.”

Former Pirates pitching coach Oscar Marin, who was hired by the Reds this offseason as a bullpen coach, also had good things to say about the 27-year-old.

“The stuff he brings to the table (is great),” Marin said. “In the second half of last year, he turned it around getting more in the strike zone and finding his identity a bit more. In the last 15 appearances, it went pretty well for him. It’s just building off that. I know in spring training, he has thrown well so far. I’m excited to have him.”

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Marin is right. In Nicolas's last 15 appearances last season, he gave up runs in just two of those games, striking out 16 and walking five over that time frame.

What Has He Been Working on This Offseason?

Nicolas told fans at PiratesFest this offseason that he focused on commanding his breaking balls more this offseason.

“I feel like the shapes of my breaking balls have been good,” Nicolas told Pirates beat writer Alex Stumpf. “It's just where my body's taking it -- it's taking it out of the zone. Just staying more through the zone, through my target rather than falling off toward first base. And, all of that just leads to more consistency in the zone."

Back in February, Stumpf chose Nicolas as the Pirates pitcher who could break out in 2025.

The Massillon, Ohio native is under team control through 2030. If Nicolas can continue to improve his command, the Reds could have something special in the backend of their bullpen.

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