Nik Turley

Nikolas Carlyle Turley (born September 11, 1989) is an American professional baseball pitcher in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization. He made his MLB debut in 2017 with the Minnesota Twins.

Nik Turley
Nik Turley pitching for the Trenton Thunder
Pittsburgh Pirates
Pitcher
Born: (1989-09-11) September 11, 1989
La Canada, California
Bats: Left Throws: Left
MLB debut
June 11, 2017, for the Minnesota Twins
MLB statistics
(through 2017 season)
Win–loss record0–2
Earned run average11.21
Strikeouts13
Teams

Career

New York Yankees

Turley attended Harvard-Westlake School, where he played for the school's baseball team.[1] He committed to attend Brigham Young University (BYU) on a scholarship to play college baseball for the BYU Cougars baseball team. Out of high school, the New York Yankees selected Turley in the 50th round, with the 1,502nd selection, of the 2008 Major League Baseball Draft. Turley was the third-to-last selection in the draft.[1][2] Turley agreed to sign with the Yankees, forgoing college.[2]

Turley spent the 2008 and 2009 seasons with the Gulf Coast Yankees of the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League. He pitched for the Staten Island Yankees of the Class A-Short Season New York–Penn League in 2010.[1] He played with the Charleston RiverDogs of the Class A South Atlantic League in 2011 and the Tampa Yankees of the Class A-Advanced Florida State League in 2012. After the season, the Yankees named Turley their minor league pitcher of the year,[3] and added him to their 40 man roster after the 2012 season to protect him from being selected by another team in the annual Rule 5 draft.[4]

In 2013, Turley pitched for the Trenton Thunder of the Class AA Eastern League, and made one start for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders of the Class AAA International League. On the season, Turley had an 11–8 win–loss record with a 3.88 earned run average.[2] He started and won Game One of the 2013 Eastern League Championship Series.[5]

Attending spring training in 2014, Turley did not pitch due to arm tightness. The Yankees optioned Turley to the minor leagues.[6] He was released by the team on April 26, 2014.[7] He was re-signed on May 8.

San Francisco Giants

Turley signed as a minor league free agent with the San Francisco Giants on December 5, 2014.[8]

Chicago White Sox

Turley signed a minor league contract with the Chicago White Sox in November 2015.[9][10] He was released on March 26, 2016.

Boston Red Sox

Turley signed a minor league contract with the Boston Red Sox on April 11. He was released on July 8, 2016.

Somerset Patriots

On July 27, 2016 he signed with the Somerset Patriots of the Atlantic League.[11]

Minnesota Twins

After the 2016 season, Turley signed a minor league contract with the Minnesota Twins.[12] He pitched for the Chattanooga Lookouts of the Class AA Southern League and Rochester Red Wings of the International League before the Twins promoted him to the major leagues on June 11.[13]

Pittsburgh Pirates

On November 5, 2017, the Pittsburgh Pirates claimed Turley off of waivers.[14] Turley was suspended for the first 80 games of the 2018 season after testing positive for a performance-enhancing drug.[15] He was outrighted to AAA on October 4, 2018. He was assigned to AAA Indianapolis Indians on their 7-day IL to start the 2019 season.

Pitching style

Turley is 6 feet 5 inches (1.96 m) tall and weighs 225 pounds (102 kg). He uses his height to push the ball down into the strike zone and turns his body sideways as he throws to home plate. His pitches include a fastball that averages 90 to 91 miles per hour (145 to 146 km/h), a curveball that averages 77 to 79 miles per hour (124 to 127 km/h), and a changeup.[16]

Personal life

Turley is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormon). He intends to serve as a missionary after he retires from baseball.[5]

Turley has been married to Rachel Turley (née Johnson) since 2011. He grew up in La Cañada, California, and has three older brothers, who all played college sports.[2] Turley describes former Yankee Bob Turley as a "distant relative".[5]

References
  1. "Staten Island Yankees defeat Connecticut Tigers behind southpaw Nik Turley, 6–3". SILive.com. Retrieved September 18, 2013.
  2. "Thunder pitcher Turley forcing Yankees to take notice". Trentonian.com. Retrieved September 18, 2013.
  3. Sondheimer, Eric (September 18, 2012). "Baseball: Ex-Harvard-Westlake pitcher Nik Turley receives Yankees honor". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 16, 2013.
  4. "Yankees claim RHP Mickey Storey off waivers" (Press release). Newyork.yankees.mlb.com. November 20, 2012. Retrieved September 18, 2013.
  5. Franklin, Paul (September 11, 2013). "Franklin: Trenton Thunder's Nik Turley has family tree rooted in athletes". NJ.com. Retrieved September 18, 2013.
  6. Kuty, Brendan (March 12, 2014). "Yankees spring training: Gary Sanchez, Slade Heathcott, Nik Turley sent to minors". NJ.com. Retrieved February 23, 2015.
  7. "Yankees add RHP Chris Leroux, send down RHP Greene". ESPN.com. Associated Press. April 26, 2014. Retrieved April 27, 2014.
  8. "Giants sign three minor league free agents". McCovey Chronicles. mccoveychronicles.com. December 5, 2014. Retrieved December 16, 2014.
  9. Eddy, Matt (December 1, 2015). "Minor League Transactions: Nov. 21-27". Baseball America. Retrieved December 1, 2015.
  10. "Three ex-Yankees farmhands sign MiLB deals". yesnetwork.com. Retrieved December 2, 2015.
  11. Brian Billick [@CoachBillick] (September 11, 2016). "AJ Green is sipping Mai Tais on Revis Island" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  12. Ashmore, Mike (October 23, 2016). "Turley, Twins Agree To Deal For 2017 Season – Somerset Patriots Pulse". Blogs.mycentraljersey.com. Retrieved November 6, 2017.
  13. "Nik Turley: From 50th round draft choice to Sunday's Twins' starter". StarTribune.com. June 10, 2017. Retrieved November 6, 2017.
  14. Rob Biertempfel (September 28, 2017). "Pirates claim left-hander Nik Turley off waivers from Twins". TribLIVE. Retrieved November 6, 2017.
  15. ESPN News Services (January 27, 2018). "Pirates' Nik Turley suspended 80 games for performance-enhancing drug use". ESPN. Retrieved March 30, 2018.
  16. Pleskoff, Bernie (June 28, 2013). "Yanks' Turley projects to be Majors contributor: Left-handed pitcher, a former 50th-round pick, developing into viable arm". MLB.com. Retrieved March 30, 2018.
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