Justin Nicolino

Early life and education

Nicolino attended University High School in Orlando, Florida. Playing for the school's baseball team, he had a 4–2 win–loss record and a 1.95 earned run average (ERA) with 74 strikeouts in 44 innings pitched in his senior year. He committed to attend the University of Virginia on a college baseball scholarship. Projected as a third or fourth round pick in the 2010 Major League Baseball Draft, Nicolino expected to honor the commitment.

The Toronto Blue Jays selected Nicolino in the second round of the 2010 MLB Draft, with the 80th overall selection. He signed with the Blue Jays for a reported $615,000 signing bonus, rather than enroll at the University of Virginia.

Professional career

Nicolino made his professional debut for the Vancouver Canadians of the Class A-Short Season Northwest League in 2011, posting a 5–1 win–loss record and a 1.03 ERA. The Blue Jays promoted him to the Lansing Lugnuts of the Class A Midwest League late in the season, and he pitched to a 1–1 record and a 3.12 ERA in three starts for Lansing. Nicolino returned to Lansing for the 2012 season. He had a 10–4 win–loss record with a Midwest League-best 2.46 ERA and 119 strikeouts in  124 ¹⁄₃ innings pitched. His teammates voted him as the Lugnuts' Most Valuable Player, and he was named to the Midwest League Postseason All-Star team.

On November 19, 2012, the Blue Jays traded Nicolino, Adeiny Hechavarria, Henderson Álvarez, Yunel Escobar, Jeff Mathis, Anthony DeSclafani, and Jake Marisnick to the Miami Marlins in exchange for Mark Buehrle, Josh Johnson, José Reyes, John Buck, and Emilio Bonifacio. On January 29, 2013, Nicolino was named number 72 on MLB's Top 100 Prospects list. He began the 2013 season with the Jupiter Hammerheads of the Class A-Advanced Florida State League (FSL). After pitching to a 5–2 record with a 2.23 ERA, and being named a FSL All-Star, he received a promotion to the Jacksonville Suns of the Class AA Southern League in July. Pitching for Jacksonville in 2014, Nicolino had a went 14–4 with a 2.85 ERA in 28 starts, and was named the Marlins' Minor League Pitcher of the Year. After the 2014 season, the Marlins added Nicolino to their 40-man roster to protect him from the Rule 5 draft.

Nicolino began the 2015 season with the New Orleans Zephyrs of the Class AAA Pacific Coast League. The Marlins called up Nicolino for his first major league start on June 20, 2015, taking the rotation spot of Tom Koehler. He pitched 7 shutout innings, giving up 4 hits and 2 walks, with 2 strikeouts. He was optioned back to Class AAA on June 30, 2015. He'd finish the season 5-4 with a 4.01 ERA in 12 starts for the Marlins. He struck out 23 in 74 innings. In 2016, Nicolino pitched in 5 games out of the bullpen, while starting 13 for the Marlins, he finished with a 4.99 ERA on the season. In 2017, Nicolino was placed on the disabled list on May 30th with a contusion on his left index finger.

Scouting Report

Nicolino is a contact pitcher, pitching in the high 80's to low 90's with his fastball. He also throws a changeup and a curveball. Since 2014, Nicolino has averaged 4.8 strikeouts per 9 innings in the minors, while with the Marlins since 2015, he's average 3.7 strikeouts per 9 innings.