When the Pittsburgh Pirates acquired Malcom Nunez in the Jose Quintana trade, they were looking for more than your traditional first base prospect.
The 21-year-old Nunez has above average power, but doesn’t sell out his approach to reach it. In his brief time in the Pirates’ system, Nunez drew 21 walks in 143 plate appearances while striking out only 32 times. He was able to flash some of that power, hitting 11 total extra-base hits, six of which were home runs.
In total, Nunez played 34 games in the Pirates system, between Altoona and Indianapolis, and slashed .280/.385/.475, with a wRC+ of 135 combined.
When you add in his time with Springfield while in the Cardinals’ system, Nunez slugged a total of 23 home runs, and drove in 88 runs on the entire season.
Malcom Nunez with a solo shot his first AAA home run #LetsGoBucs pic.twitter.com/su2YblXcxp
— Anthony Murphy (@__Murphy88) September 21, 2022
Nunez also dealt with one of the more hitter friendly parks in the minors, and took advantage of it, with his slugging percentage 200-points higher at home compared to on the road before the trade. Only one of his 17 home runs came on the road.
So it was going to be interesting to see how he did moving to a home ballpark that was much more pitcher friendly in Peoples Natural Gas Field. To be fair, he only hit one of his five Double-A home runs in Altoona, but the best part of Nunez’s game is going to be the combination of his approach and raw power.
Nunez rounded out the season with Triple-A Indianapolis, and is Rule 5 eligible this offseason, so it will be interesting to see the approach the Pirates take with a player they just recently added.
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