Joe Nathan

[William Malone]

Joseph Michael Nathan was born on November 22, 1974 in Houston, Texas.

The San Francisco Giants selected him as a shortstop in round six of the 1995 MLB Draft. He struggled offensively at the Low-A level that summer, and quit baseball. Nathan returned to Stony Brook University, finishing his degree in business management. After graduating in 1997, he returned to the Giants organization and attempted to develop as a pitcher.

Nathan quickly became one of the Giants best pitching prospects. He made his Major League debut in 1999, going 7-4 with a 4.18 ERA as a starting pitcher that season. Injuries and ineffectiveness began to plague Nathan over the next several seasons, but he eventually found success in the San Francisco bullpen. Nathan had a 2.96 ERA over 78 relief appearances in 2003. He was traded to the Minnesota Twins for catcher A.J. Pierzynski during the off-season. The Twins also acquired pitching prospects Francisco Liriano and Boof Bonser in the deal.

Minnesota had an open competition for the closer role during spring training in 2004, with Nathan beating out J.C. Romero and Jesse Crain. Over his first 53 appearances of the season, Nathan 34-for-35 in save opportunities with a 0.82 ERA. He had struck out 62 hitters in 54.2 innings. He blew two saves and allowed six earned runs over his next three outings, but things quickly settled back down. Nathan finished the season 44-for-47 in save chances, posting a 1.62 ERA and a 0.982 WHIP. This performance earned him a fourth place finish in AL Cy Young voting, and a 12th place AL MVP finish.

The 2004 season was the beginning of an incredibly dominant six year run. His 246 saves between 2004 and 2009 was the most in baseball. Among the 11 pitchers with at least 150 saves during that six year span, he ranked second in ERA (1.87) and third in save percentage (90.77%). He finished fifth in the 2006 AL Cy Young voting in 2006, posting a 1.33 ERA and a 0.790 WHIP. His 47 saves in 2009 set a Twins single season record.

An MRI on March 9, 2010 revealed that Nathan had a torn UCL in his right elbow. He attempted to bypass Tommy John surgery and pitch with the damaged ligament, but eventually chose the path of surgery after a bad spring training outing on March 21st. This caused Nathan to miss the entire 2010 season.

His return to big league action in 2011 was very rocky. Nathan opened the year 3-for-3 in save chances, but he had to work around traffic in each outing. The floodgates eventually opened up, and Nathan had a 7.63 ERA through 17 outings. Minnesota placed him on the disabled list with a right flexor strain. He was a little better after his return in late June, posting a 3.38 ERA over his final 31 games. Nathan finished the season with a 4.84 ERA across 48 appearances. He signed with the Texas Rangers as a free agent.

Nathan was back to his elite self with the Rangers, registering 80 saves with a 2.09 ERA over two seasons with the club. He signed with the Detroit Tigers in 2014, regressing to a 4.81 ERA. Nathan still had 35 saves despite the dangerously high ERA, thanks to an elite Tigers offense and starting staff always proving Nathan with multi-run leads to protect. He had a save on Opening Day against the Twins in 2015, but that was his final appearance for Detroit. Nathan woke up the next day with pain in his elbow, and underwent a second Tommy John surgery.

He signed a minor league deal with the Chicago Cubs, and was able to return from Tommy John surgery in late July of 2016. Nathan had three scoreless appearances for the Cubs, but was still designated for assignment with bad underlying stats. San Francisco signed him after that. Nathan tossed 4.1 more shutout innings for them, but was again released with bad underlying stats. He received a World Series ring from the Cubs, who won the World Series that fall.

The Washington Nationals signed him to a minor league contract in 2017, but released him as spring training came to a close. Nathan signed a one day contract with the Twins, and then retired. As of 2025, he has the highest all-time save percentage among players with at least 300 career saves.

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