Kyles was selected in the 4th round by the Chicago Cubs in the 1979 amateur entry draft. That year he played his first season for the Rookie leagueGulf Coast Cubs. The next year, he played for the Class A-LowGeneva Cubs. He started 1981 off with Geneva before advancing to the Class AQuad City Cubs. In 1982, he played for the Class A-AdvancedSalinas Spurs and recorded an 11–5 record with a 2.51 ERA and pitched 118 strikeouts. In 1983, he played for both the Double-A Midland Cubs and the Triple-A Iowa Cubs. In 1984, he switched to the Oakland Athletics organization where he started at their Double-A club, the Albany-Colonie A's. He advanced to their Triple-A club, the Tacoma Tigers, the following season. In 1986, he split the season between Tacoma and Oakland's new Double-A affiliate, the Huntsville Stars. He spent 1987, his last season with Oakland, at Tacoma. Kyles switched organizations in 1988, playing for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim's Triple-A club, the Albuquerque Dukes. In 1989, his final season as a player, Kyles played for two different organizations' Double-A clubs: the San Francisco Giants' Shreveport Captains and the Milwaukee Brewers' El Paso Diablos. After 11 seasons as a professional pitcher in the minor leagues, playing in 279 games, Kyles retired. His career totals include a 52–56 record, a 3.86 ERA, and 508 strikeouts.
Coaching career
After retiring from playing, Kyles became involved with coaching in 1991. He worked in the Chicago Cubs' and Colorado Rockies' farm system prior to joining the Milwaukee Brewers organization, as a pitching coach, in 2001. His first season at the Triple-A level was 2004 with the Indianapolis Indians. The next season, the Brewers switched their top affiliate to the Nashville Sounds of the Pacific Coast League. In his first year with Nashville, the team captured the league's championship. In 2006 and 2007, his pitching staff lead the league in ERA. After the regular 2006 season, Kyles served as the pitching coach for the Mexican Winter League'sNaranjeros de Hermosillo, which won the league championship. On Nov. 12, 2008, Kyles was named the new Milwaukee Brewers bullpen coach, replacingBill Castro who was promoted to pitching coach. On April 20, 2010, news surfaced that Kyles was diagnosed with prostate cancer, and would be undergoing treatment on April 23. On May 25, 2010, he returned as the Brewers bullpen coach. On July 30, 2012, he was let go as the Brewers bullpen coach.
