It’s a game where you can be sooooo close to greatness, and yet it stubbornly eludes your grasp!
Nice effort though, Tyler Fitzgerald!
Daily incoming! Thanks to some COVID IL stints, the Giants have openings on their 40-man, and nature never abhorred a vacuum the way the Giants abhore an opening on their 40-man! That means new players!
Darien Nuñez was signed by the Dodgers in 2018 after having missed three full seasons since leaving Cuba. Despite that, he advanced fairly quickly through LA’s system, mostly thanks to a powerful, boring fastball that sat in the mid-90s. He started 2021 in Double A Tulsa, but was quickly elevated to Triple A Oklahoma City and had a terrific season there, striking out almost 14 batters per 9 innings there with an ERA of 2.42. Nuñez turned into a Triple A shuttle player in 2021, moving back and forth from OKC to LA four times. Things didn’t go well for him in his big league debut, as he was scored upon in all but one of his six appearances, ultimately posting an 8.82 ERA. Nuñez is strictly a fastball/changeup pitcher, using the two pitches almost equally, and getting some huge velocity separation between the two — up to 15 mph difference.
Nuñez will spend the rest of 2022 recovering from Tommy John surgery, effectively making 2022 the fifth season he’s missed over the past eight years. This is the first of those that’s been missed for injury reasons though, so his arm should still be somewhat fresh heading into his age 30 season in 2023. Loathe as I am to show Dodgers’ highlights, Nuñez did actually appear against the Giants last year:
(Dickerson touched him up for a two-run homer right before this though, so it’s alright!)
To the lines, where hitting was a little scarce last night!
HITTER of the Night: Grant McCray (SJ) 2 for 4, HR (1), 2 RBI
PITCHER of the Night: Will Bednar (SJ), 5.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 5 K
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