Christopher John "C. J." Nitkowski (born March 9, 1973) is a left-handed former professional baseball pitcher and current baseball broadcaster. A first-round draft choice of the Cincinnati 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, and Washington Nationals. He has also played in Nippon Professional Baseball for the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, and in the KBO League for the SK Wyverns, Doosan Bears, and Nexen Heroes. Nitkowski currently works as a broadcaster for the Rangers and SiriusXM's MLB Network Radio.
Amateur career
Nitkowski grew up in Suffern, New York, and attended Don Bosco Preparatory High School in Ramsey, New Jersey, graduating in 1991. Not drafted out of high school, he attended Florida Atlantic University for one year before transferring to St. John's University.
Professional career
Major League Baseball
The Cincinnati Reds made Nitkowski the ninth overall pick in the 1994 Major League Baseball draft. He made his major-league debut on June 3, 1995, with the Reds. The Reds traded Nitkowski, a player to be named later (later selected to be Mark Lewis), and minor-leaguer Dave Tuttle to the Detroit Tigers for David Wells on July 31, 1995.
After the 1996 season, the Tigers traded Nitkowski with Brad Ausmus, José Lima, Trever Miller, and Daryle Ward to the Houston Astros for Doug Brocail, Brian Hunter, Todd Jones, Orlando Miller, and cash. After the 1998 season, the Astros traded Nitkowski with Ausmus back to the Tigers for Paul Bako, Dean Crow, Brian Powell, and minor-leaguers Carlos Villalobos and Mark Persails. Late in the 2001 season, the Tigers traded Nitkowski to the New York Mets for a player to be named later, later identified as minor-leaguer Kyle Kessel.
Nitkowski signed with the Texas Rangers and played for the team in 2002 and 2003. He split the 2004 season between the Atlanta Braves and the New York Yankees. He pitched for the Washington Nationals in 2005. In the 2006 season, he played exclusively in Triple-A with the Pittsburgh Pirates organization.
Later years
After the 2006 season, Nitkowski accepted a one-year contract tender with Nippon Professional Baseball's Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks. He played two seasons for the Hawks, but did not return to the team in 2009.
Nitkowski began the season with the SK Wyverns in South Korea, but was granted his release by the team on June 20. On June 28, 2009, the Doosan 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 the Nexen Heroes based in Seoul, South Korea.
Nitkowski signed a minor-league deal on July 13, 2012, with the New York Mets. He began using a sidearm delivery.
Media career
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 for Sports Illustrated, Associated Press, SB Nation, Baseball Prospectus, ESPN.com and MLB.com. From 2013 to 2016, he wrote exclusively for Fox Sports, including for the now defunct Just a Bit Outside, Fox's baseball microsite that attempted to follow the Monday Morning Quarterback model.
Radio
From 2013 to 2016, Nitkowski co-hosted Eye on Baseball, a national radio baseball show for CBS 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 for MLB Network Radio on Sirius XM He currently appears on Loud Outs weekdays 3-6PM ET with Ryan Spilborghs and Brad Lidge.
In 2013, Nitkowski filled in for Suzyn Waldman and worked alongside John Sterling on New York Yankees radio broadcasts for 880 CBS Radio. In 2013, he was also a studio analyst for MLB.com. In 2014, Nitkowski called a handful of New York Mets games on radio alongside Josh Lewin and Howie Rose for WOR 710. From 2017 to 2019, he had a weekly show with sports radio 1310 AM and 96.7 FM The Ticket's BaD Radio Show hosted by Bob Sturm and Dan McDowell in Dallas, Texas.
Television
In 2017, Nitkowski was named a member of the Texas Rangers television broadcast booth, where he serves in both the color analyst and play-by-play roles.