Christopher John "C. J." Nitkowski (born March 9, 1973) is an American left-handed former professional baseball pitcher and current baseball broadcaster. A first-round draft choice of theCincinnati Reds in 1994, he played in the major leagues for the Reds,Detroit Tigers,Houston Astros,New York Mets,Texas Rangers,Atlanta Braves,New York Yankees, andWashington Nationals. He also played inNippon Professional Baseball for theFukuoka SoftBank Hawks, and in theKBO League for theSK Wyverns,Doosan Bears, andNexen Heroes. Nitkowski currently works as a broadcaster for the Atlanta Braves andSiriusXM'sMLB Network Radio.

C. J. Nitkowski
Pitcher
Born: (1973-03-09)March 9, 1973 (age 52) Suffern, New York, U.S.
Batted: Left Threw: Left
Professional debut
MLB: June 3, 1995, for the Cincinnati Reds
NPB: 2007, for the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks
KBO: April 8, 2009, for the SK Wyverns
Last appearance
MLB: June 7, 2005, for the Washington Nationals
NPB: 2008, for the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks
KBO: September 25, 2011, for the Nexen Heroes
MLB statistics
Win–loss record	18–32
Earned run average	5.37
Strikeouts	347
NPB statistics
Win–loss record	3–5
Earned run average	3.99
Strikeouts	55
KBO statistics
Win–loss record	9–19
Earned run average	4.40
Strikeouts	127
Stats atBaseball Reference
Teams
Cincinnati Reds (1995) Detroit Tigers (1995–1996) Houston Astros (1998) Detroit Tigers (1999–2001) New York Mets (2001) Texas Rangers (2002–2003) Atlanta Braves (2004) New York Yankees (2004) Washington Nationals (2005) Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks (2007–2008) SK Wyverns (2009) Doosan Bears (2009) Nexen Heroes (2010–2011)

Nitkowski grew up inSuffern, New York,^[1] and attendedDon Bosco Preparatory High School inRamsey, New Jersey, graduating in 1991.^[2] Not drafted out of high school, he attendedFlorida Atlantic University for one year before transferring toSt. John's University.

TheCincinnati Reds made Nitkowski the ninth overall pick in the1994 Major League Baseball draft.^[3] He made his major-league debut on June 3, 1995, with the Reds. The Reds traded Nitkowski, aplayer to be named later (later selected to beMark Lewis), and minor-leaguer Dave Tuttle to theDetroit Tigers forDavid Wells on July 31, 1995.^[3]

After the 1996 season, the Tigers traded Nitkowski withBrad Ausmus,José Lima,Trever Miller, andDaryle Ward to theHouston Astros forDoug Brocail,Brian Hunter,Todd Jones,Orlando Miller, and cash.^[4] After the 1998 season, the Astros traded Nitkowski with Ausmus back to the Tigers forPaul Bako,Dean Crow,Brian Powell, and minor-leaguers Carlos Villalobos and Mark Persails.^[4] Late in the 2001 season, the Tigers traded Nitkowski to theNew York Mets for a player to be named later, later identified as minor-leaguer Kyle Kessel.^[4]

Nitkowski signed with theTexas Rangers and played for the team in 2002 and 2003. He split the 2004 season between theAtlanta Braves and theNew York Yankees. He pitched for theWashington Nationals in 2005. In the 2006 season, he played exclusively inTriple-A with thePittsburgh Pirates organization.

After the 2006 season, Nitkowski accepted a one-year contract tender with Nippon Professional Baseball'sFukuoka SoftBank Hawks.^[5] He played two seasons for the Hawks, but did not return to the team in 2009.^[6]

Nitkowski began the2009 season with theSK Wyverns inSouth Korea,^[7] but was granted his release by the team on June 20.^[8] On June 28, 2009, theDoosan Bears in South Korea claimed him off waivers. He was released at the end of the season due to concerns over a shoulder injury he suffered in Game 1 of the first round of the playoffs. In July 2010, Nitkowski signed with theNexen Heroes based inSeoul,South Korea.

Nitkowski signed a minor-league deal on July 13, 2012, with theNew York Mets.^[9] He began using asidearm delivery.^[10]

After retiring from baseball in April 2013, Nitkowski began a career in media as a writer, studio host, radio host, color analyst and play-by-play man. As a writer, he has had articles published forSports Illustrated,Associated Press,SB Nation,Baseball Prospectus,ESPN.com andMLB.com.^[11] From 2013 to 2016, he wrote exclusively forFox Sports, including for the now defunct Just a Bit Outside, Fox's baseball microsite that attempted to follow the Monday Morning Quarterback model.

From 2013 to 2016, Nitkowski co-hostedEye on Baseball, a national radio baseball show forCBS Sports Radio. His co-hosts on the show were Damon Bruce (2013), Brandon Tierney (2013) and Adam "The Bull" Gerstenhaber (2014–2016). Nitkowski is also a host and analyst forMLB Network Radio onSirius XM^[11] He currently appears onLoud Outs weekdays 3-6PM ET withRyan Spilborghs andBrad Lidge.

In 2013, Nitkowski filled in forSuzyn Waldman and worked alongsideJohn Sterling on New York Yankees radio broadcasts for880 CBS Radio.^{[citation needed]} In 2013, he was also a studio analyst for MLB.com.^[11] In 2014, Nitkowski called a handful of New York Mets games on radio alongsideJosh Lewin andHowie Rose forWOR 710. From 2017 to 2019, he had a weekly show with sports radio1310 AM and96.7 FM The Ticket'sBaD Radio Show hosted by Bob Sturm and Dan McDowell in Dallas, Texas.

From 2014 to 2016, Nitkowski was a studio analyst forFox Sports 1, where he was a regular on their baseball highlight showMLB Whip Around, which debuted on March 31, 2013. He also made appearances on FS1's other studio shows as well as Fox's Saturday MLB pre- and post-game coverage. Other analysts he has worked with at FS1 include former MLB playersFrank Thomas,Gabe Kapler,Mark Sweeney,Raúl Ibañez,Pete Rose,Alex Rodriguez andEric Karros.^[12] Nitkowski has called nationally televised MLB games for FS1 and Fox from 2014 to 2019 and has worked with play-by-play menThom Brennaman,Kenny Albert,Brian Anderson,Len Kasper,Rich Waltz,Justin Kutcher andTom McCarthy. He started in television onCBS Sports Network, where he served as a color analyst onNCAA baseball games. He has also made appearances onMLB Network and ESPN.

In 2017, Nitkowski was named a member of the Texas Rangers' television broadcast booth,^[13] where served in both the color analyst and play-by-play roles through 2023. Nitkowski was nominated seven times and won five regionalSports Emmy Awards for his work on Rangers broadcasts.^[14] He was also part of the 2016 broadcast group on Fox which won a national Sports Emmy for their postseason coverage.

In December 2023, Nitkowski joined the Atlanta Braves' television crew as the primary analyst onBally Sports South andBally Sports Southeast beginning in the 2024 season.^[15][16]

On January 30, 2009, it was revealed that Nitkowski was interviewed by theFBI as part of its investigation into the perjury case againstRoger Clemens. Nitkowski worked out sporadically in the off-seasons from 2001 to 2006, while also being trained byBrian McNamee, Clemens' principal accuser. Nitkowski, in a statement to theAssociated Press (an organization he also occasionally contributes to as a writer) said, "I have never seen Roger or Andy take any illegal performance-enhancing drugs. I have never talked to either of them about PEDs, nor do I have any firsthand knowledge of them taking any PEDs."

Nitkowski was the first major-leaguer to maintain his own website, www.CJBaseball.com, where he posted ongoing personal diaries about life in the big leagues, as early as 1997.^[1] The site still exists but is sporadically updated.

Raised a Catholic, Nitkowski converted toEvangelical Christianity after an incident in which his son nearly drowned in a swimming pool during spring training in 2002.^[17]

In May 2012, Nitkowski was filmed playing the role of former MLB playerDutch Leonard for a scene in the motion picture42, which chroniclesJackie Robinson's life story. Coincidentally, the footage was shot inEngel Stadium inChattanooga, Tennessee, the ballpark where Nitkowski broke into professional baseball as a first-round pick of the Reds in 1994.^[1][18]

In 2016, Nitkowski served as a script and technical consultant for Dan Fogelman'sPitch, a television drama about the first woman to reach the Major Leagues.^[19]

• Career statistics fromESPN, orBaseball Reference, orFangraphs, orBaseball Reference (Minors)
• CJ Nitkowski onTwitter