WHY NUNEZ HAS BECOME VALUABLE

(Photo: Getty)
Like the rest of you Yankee fans, I was pretty disappointed when Derek Jeter went on the DL. I mean, why wouldn't I be? He's only one of my top five favorite Yankees of all time, with Robinson Cano being number one of course, you gotta love that sweet swing from the left side, and that slick glove at second. Anyway, it was a crushing blow and at the time, the Yankees were trailing the Red Sox by a game and a 1/2 in the fight for first. Yes, Jeter's now pretty much a .260-.270ish hitter, we can all agree, plus, his range at short isn't something to brag about, but at the end of the day, he's our Captain, and he's done amazing things for the Yankees, so the respect is there.
But there's a new man in town for the time being, and that's Eduardo Nunez. He certainly wasn't a top prospect across the bigs when he came up. But, he can certainly be a starting major league shortstop in the majors. He's got a good bat, and good speed, but his defense is a little suspect to say the least--eight errors at short this season and a very poor 89.2% fielding rate. I know it drives Casey crazy when Nunez commits errors.

But, since filling in for Jeter at short on June 14th, Nunez has been very solid with the bat, hitting .295 (that's 13/44), with four stolen bases. On the season, Nunez is hitting .243 with 10 stolen bases. So, you can clearly see that being a part time player was affecting Nunez' bat.
(Photo: Getty)
Now, I'm not saying that the Captain is taking a backseat to Nunez when he comes back, but clearly Nunez is showing me something. He's showing me he can be a valuable player on this club. He could very well become a trade piece for someone who needs a shortstop, but I don't welcome that idea. Brian Cashman won't dangle him freely.

Last year at around the trade deadline time, the Mariners were clearly out of the race in the AL West, and were shopping Co-Ace Cliff Lee. Now, Cliff Lee is probably a top five pitcher in baseball (he's even thrown three straight complete game shutouts as of late) so it would take a lot to get him obviously. At that time last July, the Yankees were close to getting Lee, but Seattle wanted a utility player.... it was Eduardo Nunez. Along with Jesus Montero, and others, the Mariners wanted Nunez to complete the deal. They asked multiple times for him, and Cashman refused everytime. You can read that entire story HERE.

That tells me the Yankees trust this guy, and Nunez knows that too. He's gotta feel good about that, even though, if the Yankees made that trade, they could have very well won the World Series last year. But we'll never know.

When Jeter comes back, Nunez will head right to the bench. I think that's too bad. I don't think sending him down to AAA to start every day is the worst idea though. It would keep Nunez's bat hot and he'd continue playing. I mean, if you look at his stats the last two weeks compared to overall this season, you can see he's much more comfortable as a starter he is and rightfully so, he's been a starter his whole career climbing up to the bigs. At age 24, it's a tough transition. Either way, he's going to play a role on this team whether he's still filling in for Jeter, or is a bench player. He's got very good speed, and can play almost everywhere, which includes short, second base, third base, left and right field. His defense must improve though. Luckily, if he plays everyday, it will help, that's for sure.


--Jesse Schindler, BYB Staff Writer




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