Vidal Nuño

Vidal Nuño
Arizona Diamondbacks – No. 54
Pitcher
Born: July 26, 1987
National City, California
Bats: Left Throws: Left
MLB debut
April 29, 2013 for the New York Yankees
Career statistics
(through 2014 season)
Win–loss record 3–14
Earned run average 4.31
Strikeouts 138
Teams

Vidal Vicente Nuño [vee-dahl' nooh'-nio] (born July 26, 1987) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Arizona Diamondbacks of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2013 with the New York Yankees.

Amateur career

Nuño attended Sweetwater High School in National City, California, where he played for the school's baseball team. As a junior, in 2004, Nuño recorded 107 strikeouts and was named the Mesa League Pitcher of the Year in 2004.[1][2]

Due to his poor academic track record, Nuño could not receive a scholarship from a Division I school. Wanting to leave San Diego, he attended Baker University in Baldwin City, Kansas, where he played college baseball for the Baker Wildcats in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics. In two seasons at Baker, Nuño had a 15–7 win–loss record.[3] He was named the Heart of America Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Year as a junior in 2008.[4]

Professional career

Draft and minor leagues

The Cleveland Indians selected Nuño in the 48th round of the 2009 Major League Baseball Draft,[4] with the 1,445th overall selection.[5] That year, he pitched for the Mahoning Valley Scrappers of the Class A-Short Season New York-Pennsylvania League. He began the season as a relief pitcher, but was moved into the starting rotation.[6] He finished the season with a 2.05 earned run average (ERA).[5] In 2010, Nuño was promoted to the Lake County Captains of the Class A Midwest League. After pitching to a 4.96 ERA in 21 games, the Indians released Nuño, and suggested that in order to continue his career, he should develop a changeup.[4]

Nuño began the 2011 season pitching in independent baseball for the Washington Wild Things of the Frontier League, where he worked on his changeup. After six games with the Wild Things, he signed with the New York Yankees organization, and was assigned to the Staten Island Yankees of the New York-Penn League. He also pitched for the Charleston RiverDogs of the Class A South Atlantic League.[4] In 2012, Nuño played for the Tampa Yankees of the Class A-Advanced Florida State League and Trenton Thunder of the Class AA Eastern League.[7] Across both levels, Nuño pitched to a 10–6 win–loss record with a 2.54 ERA, the best among all Yankees' minor league pitchers, across 138 1⁄3 innings pitched.[8]

The Yankees invited Nuño to spring training in 2013. He won the James P. Dawson Award as the best rookie in camp.[8] Assigned to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders of the Class AAA International League, he was named the league's pitcher of the week for the week ending April 21, after he won both of his starts, allowing one run in 11 2⁄3 innings, with two walks and 14 strikeouts.[9]

New York Yankees

With Iván Nova on the disabled list, the Yankees promoted Nuño to the major leagues on April 27, 2013.[10] He made his major league debut on April 29, pitching three scoreless innings in relief.[11] On May 13, he made his second appearance, his first major league start, in the second game of a doubleheader against the Cleveland Indians.[12] Nuño pitched five scoreless innings and got his first career win.[13] The next day, the Yankees optioned Nuño to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to activate Curtis Granderson from the disabled list.[14]

On May 17, 2013, Nuño was recalled back to the New York Yankees MLB roster, following an injury to Andy Pettitte that forced him to the 15-day disabled list. In a relief outing against the Baltimore Orioles on May 21, he recorded his first major league loss after surrendering a lead-off home run to Nate McLouth in the 10th inning. He was again optioned to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on May 30, 2013. Nuño was placed on the disabled list in June and missed the remainder of the 2013 season.[15]

Nuño competed with Michael Pineda, David Phelps, and Adam Warren for the final spot in the Yankees' starting rotation during spring training in 2014.[16] Pineda won the final spot, and Nuño made the Yankees' Opening Day roster as a relief pitcher.[17] After pitching in relief in three games, Nuño made his first start of the 2014 season on April 20.[18] Nuño would go on to start 14 games for the Yankees, going 2-5 while serving up 15 home runs in 78 innings.

Arizona Diamondbacks

On July 6, 2014, Nuño was traded to the Diamondbacks for pitcher Brandon McCarthy.[19] Despite poor run support, Nuño had been a solid pickup for the D'Backs. Through 12 starts, Nuño was 0-6 while lowering his ERA by almost 2 runs in Arizona.

References

  1. ↑ Ellis, Robert (March 31, 2005). "Nuno doesn't hit like pitcher | The San Diego Union-Tribune". Utsandiego.com. Retrieved March 20, 2013.
  2. ↑ "Nuno Hopes to Make Senior Year Special". Laprensa-sandiego.org. April 29, 2005. Retrieved March 20, 2013.
  3. ↑ Kerkhoff, Blair (April 29, 2013). "Yankees pitcher Vidal Nuno went from Baker U. to the bigs". The Kansas City Star. Retrieved April 29, 2013.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 "THUNDER: Pitcher Vidal Nuno rising through Yankees’ organization". The Trentonian. June 8, 2012. Retrieved March 20, 2013.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Bill Lyons/Staten Island Advance (July 1, 2011). "Staten Island Yankees win 10th in a row". SILive.com. Retrieved March 20, 2013.
  6. ↑ "Youngstown News, Nuno leads Scrappers to win". Vindy.com. August 17, 2009. Retrieved April 27, 2013.
  7. ↑ Hoch, Bryan (March 20, 2013). "Nuno fires five shutout frames in Yanks' win". MLB.com. Retrieved March 28, 2013.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Hoch, Bryan (March 28, 2013). "Nuno wins outstanding Spring Training rookie award". MLB.com. Retrieved March 28, 2013.
  9. ↑ Parker, John (April 22, 2013). "Pitchers of the Week | MiLB.com News | The Official Site of Minor League Baseball". Milb.com. Retrieved April 27, 2013.
  10. ↑ "With Ivan Nova likely set for DL, Yanks promote Vidal Nuno | yankees.com: News". Newyork.yankees.mlb.com. March 20, 2013. Retrieved April 27, 2013.
  11. ↑ Derespina, Cody (April 30, 2013). "Vidal Nuno makes MLB debut for Yankees". Newsday. Retrieved April 30, 2013. (subscription required)
  12. ↑ "David Phelps, Vidal Nuno start for Yankees in Cleveland doubleheader". NJ.com. November 1, 2011. Retrieved May 14, 2013.
  13. ↑ New Jersey (November 1, 2011). "Vidal Nuno picks up first win as Yankees split with Cleveland in 7-0 rout". NJ.com. Retrieved May 14, 2013.
  14. ↑ Axisa, Mike (June 11, 2008). "Yankees officially activate Curtis Granderson off 15-day DL". CBSSports.com. Retrieved May 14, 2013.
  15. ↑ "Yankees' Alex Rodriguez getting hit by pitch makes fans in Chicago cheer". NY Daily News. August 7, 2013. Retrieved September 10, 2013.
  16. ↑ "Yankees spring training: Vidal Nuno makes fifth starter's battle tougher". NJ.com. March 15, 2014. Retrieved April 20, 2014.
  17. ↑ "Yankees add Dellin Betances, Vidal Nuno, complete bullpen". NJ.com. March 28, 2014. Retrieved April 20, 2014.
  18. ↑ "Yankees Sunday: Vidal Nuno to start, roster moves ahead". NJ.com. March 15, 2014. Retrieved April 20, 2014.
  19. ↑ Jinkner-Lloyd, Amy; Hall, Brian (July 6, 2014). "Yankees acquire McCarthy from Diamondbacks". ESPN.com. Associated Press. Retrieved July 7, 2014.

External links