Bob Nightengale reports that Joe Nathan will officially announce his retirement at a ceremony at Target Field this Friday evening.
It was pretty clear that Nathan, who was released by the Nationals early this season, was at the end of the line, but it’s nice that the Twins will give him a proper sendoff. Nathan pitched in Minnesota for seven seasons in his 16 year career, saving 260 games for the Twins and posting a fantastic ERA+ of 204 and striking out 10.9 batters per nine innings over that span. Following Tommy John surgery he lodged a couple of solid seasons in Texas before going on to Detroit before a second Tommy John surgery in early 2015 basically ended his career. He’d make shot stops in San Francisco and Chicago before signing a minor league deal with Washington.
In all, Nathan compiled a record of 64-34 with a 2.87 ERA (ERA+ 151) and 377 saves, which puts him at number eight on the all-time list, just behind Dennis Eckersley and just ahead of Jonathan Papelbon.
