In 2001 Nieve was promoted to the Appalachian League playing for Greeneville where he put in 38 innings of work for his first winning record 4-2, and a 3.79 ERA.
Fernando stayed in Greeneville in 2002 and delivered a 4-1 season, dropping his ERA to 2.39. He was promoted to Lexington for one game with statistically insignificant work.
He returned to Lexington in 2003. They call the team Legends. This may be where Nieve's legend begins. In his first full season of work, 150 innings pitched, he delivered a 14-9 season with a 3.65 ERA, recording 144 strikeouts, allowing only 10 home runs and 65 BBs.
He began 2004 in Salem of the High A Carolina League where he posted a 2.96 ERA in 149 innings of work, going triple-digit again on his Ks with 117. Round Rock, then part of the Class AA Texas League came next.
He finished the year in Double-A with a lean mean 1.56 ERA, a 2-0 record and only 3 earned runs to 17 strikeouts with 8 BBs.
In 2005, Nieve returned to the Double-A, now relocated to Corpus Christi as the Hooks. In 14 games, 85 innings pitched, he went 4-3 with a 2.65 ERA, 96 strikeouts and just 25 earned runs.
Fernando earned a promotion to Triple-A, taking him back to Round Rock, on June 18th. He was a bit rattled on his debut, but he settled down and has continued to pitch dominant baseball.
Nieve throws heat, a curve and a slider, and he has a decent cutter. Coaches have to work with him on concentrating on his location. When he starts to throw heat and throw hard, he can lose some precision. Thus far he has followed the guidance of the Astros developmental staff.
We like Nieve's stuff, and his aggressiveness with batters. He is developing both the maturity and control to be at least a good middle reliever. The Astros seem to have him earmarked as a potential starter. If he can continue his improvement and locate well, Astros fans may well feel the tremors of the Nieve Express rolling out of Round Rock into Houston's starting rotation.
