He may have entered pro baseball as a big bonus kid from Venezuela, but it took Renato Núñez quite some time to get an extended big league chance. It happened in his third season with his third team. And it was with the Orioles, who acquired him on waivers from Texas on May 13, 2018. Later that summer he got a chance to play every day.
Then last year he got to play almost every day for a full major league season. The 26-year-old Núñez made 109 starts as the DH and 29 as a corner infielder. He finished tied for 24th in the American League in homers and tied for 20th in RBIs. He was one of 20 AL players with both 30 home runs and 90 RBIs.
He hit .244/.311/.460 with 24 doubles, 31 homers and 90 RBIs. He became the fifth player in O's history to hit 30 or more home runs in his age-25 season. He joined Manny Machado (who did that three times) and Boog Powell (two times) along with Jonathan Schoop and Eddie Murray.
"It feels amazing, man," Núñez said during a Zoom interview Thursday. "All the work put in over several offseasons, all the sacrifices that we have to do to get ready for the season. All those seasons in the minors, all the ups and downs. Now I'm here. I'm able to play almost every day. It feels great. I feel blessed and thankful for that."
Núñez is streaky hitter who can follow a long quiet streak with a homer barrage.
"I watched a lot of my ABs last year - the bad ones and the good ones," he said. "And tried to figure out what I could do to not have that many at-bats without getting a hit. We'll see what happens during the season. Maybe I need to select better pitches and swing at the pitch I'm looking for. Not crazy stuff, just simple stuff. You don't want to get too much stuff in your mind."
Núñez said the truncated 60-game season could be a positive for a youthful and energetic team like the Orioles.
"It is going to be a benefit," he said. "We are hungry. We all want to play good baseball and be good. I feel like everyone here is in great shape. Hopefully, we have a good season ahead."
Núñez blasted a homer during the first intrasquad game on Wednesday night at Camden Yards. He took his time around the bases and then exchanged some air high fives and handshakes. It's the new social distancing longball way.
"Have to say it was kind of weird," said Núñez. "We're used to doing handshakes and everything and now we are not able to do that. But it's great to be playing the game we love. I saw Rio (Ruiz) and the handshake we do, we did from six feet away. It's great to be here and back with my teammates and coaches. I didn't plan that. Just having fun there."
Asked about what he did to stay ready during baseball's shutdown, Núñez said, "I was in Miami the whole time. I have some friends there and have an apartment I rent there. Just tried to stay ready there. I met up with a friend who had a gym and he opened it for me and a few guys. Not too many, of course. I was working out there. Trying to keep in shape and do what I had to do to get ready. Now ready to play some baseball."
Cobb's take on the talks: It's been nice that the last few days have been more about baseball and aspects of the game then the contentious salary negotiations and talks we were all subjected to for weeks and weeks.
No doubt, some damage has been done to the game. Especially since fans realize that another negotiation will soon follow with the current collective bargaining agreement running through only 2021.
Orioles right-hander Alex Cobb is someone who can provide real insights in his interviews, so he was a good player to ask about all this. So I did ask him his take during an interview session yesterday.
'I was disgusted with it, honestly," said Cobb. "I just couldn't understand why this all was getting leaked out to the media. No matter what business you are in, I think anyone that has had to earn a paycheck, there have been complaints about the bosses and the bosses about the employees. It just happens in a workforce.
"I just thought it could have been handled a lot better on both sides. The media should not have been involved with it at all. It seemed almost intentional that the media was brought into it. And I think that there were other things that we could have had being talked about in the media. With the health protocols and what we were going to do, that was such a side note going on.
"And it was so tone-deaf with what is going on in the country right now. We needed some positive news and it just wasn't coming from any angle. To contribute to the negativity was tough to be a part of. But at the same time, you know you had to stay strong and continue to try to fight for the players and everybody coming on behind us. And understand that we had to do what the people that we put in charge were recommending. We had to take their advice and listen to what they were saying. They know much better than any player does how to handle certain situations.
"I just didn't like the way it all transpired. My dad is a diehard baseball fan, and when I hear him being disgusted with what is going on, I really understand the fan perspective. I just hope that, once we do start getting playing, that thought and that taste is out of everybody's mouth and they just are excited to watch baseball again. Every single player wants to play and we love the game. But there is a business side to it and we tried to handle it as best we could, but obviously we fell short of that and so did MLB."
Wave it bye bye! Renato Nunez homers to CF vs Tommy Milone in @Orioles intrasquad game. Ignites a home whites rally to take lead vs visiting orange âš¾ï¸@wjz pic.twitter.com/dv0r3KMR7R
-- Mark Viviano (@MarkWJZ) July 8, 2020