Saturday, April 27, 2013

Nuno gets the call

Vidal Nuno became the second former Wild Things player to get the call to "The Show" when he was promoted to the major leagues Saturday by the New York Yankees.

The Yankees placed starting pitcher Ivan Nova on the disabled list and replaced him on the roster with the left-handed Nuno. Nova left his start Friday night against Toronto with elbow pain.

Nuno tore it up in spring training as a non-roster invitee in major league camp. We even suggested on this blog that Nuno had a decent chance to make the major leagues out of spring training, even though he was not on the 40-man roster. Heck, Baseball America didn't even rank Nuno among the Yankees' top 30 prospects entering this season.

Assigned to Class AAA, Nuno went 2-0 with a 1.54 ERA in four starts. He struck out 26 batters and walked only two in 23 1/3 innings.

Nuno was the Wild Things' opening day starter in 2011. He made six starts with Washington before having his contract purchased by New York, and since then has made an amazing rise from the Frontier League to the major leagues in only 22 months and 50 outings.

With Washington, Nuno was 2-3 with a 2.83 ERA and had 34 strikeouts in 41 1/3 innings.

An interesting note to Nuno's short career in Washington: When Nuno pitched for the Wild Things in their 2011 season opener at Joliet, the starting pitcher that night for the Slammers was Billy Petrick, who had appeared in eight games out of the bullpen for the Chicago Cubs in 2007. This makes me wonder, when was the last time a Frontier League game featured two starting pitchers who made it to the major leagues? Was this the last time? Was this the only time? Those are questions that perhaps only the Frontier League office can answer.

If Nuno gets into a game with the Yankees, then he will become the first former Wild Things player to actually play in a major league game. You might recall that pitcher Tom Cochran (2006-07) was called up by the Cincinnati Reds for two games in 2011, but he did not appear in either game before being sent back to the minors. Cochran is currently pitching for Reading, the Philadelphia Phillies' Class AA affiliate.

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12 Comments:

Anonymous Jeff said...

He pitched in relief tonight - 3 innings, 4 hits, no walks and 2 strikeouts - - Good For Him

April 29, 2013 at 7:09 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Nuno tosses 3 shutout innings in a Yankees' loss Monday night. He allowed four hits over the three innings.

April 29, 2013 at 7:30 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Nuno become first former Wild things player to appear in a MLB game last night, pitching 3 innings of scoreless ball in Astros clubbing of Yanks.

April 30, 2013 at 3:24 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

How many showed up for the annual meet and greet the new manager farce?

April 30, 2013 at 6:43 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

3 innings. 4 hits. 2 strikeouts.

Uh huh. That might work.

April 30, 2013 at 7:15 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

To person who back on March 24 wrote ... NOT A CHANCE about Nuno's chances of making it to the majors I say HAHAHAHAHA! WRONG AGAIN.

April 30, 2013 at 9:44 AM  
Anonymous Natual Grass said...

Being the first and only ex Wild Thing player to appear in a major league ballgame, Nuno's Wild Things number should be retired!
Any action on that front Chris?

April 30, 2013 at 10:40 AM  
Blogger Chris Dugan said...

Uh, no.

April 30, 2013 at 5:56 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

While it'd be nice to remember him with a banner or something like that, I doubt they'll retire his number. It'd be like a major league team retiring the number of a hall of famer who played one month for them (like Piazza getting his number retired by the Marlins, or Rickey Henderson getting retired by anyone... just kidding).

Nuno was only here for six starts, essentially one month. Also known in some circles as half a Ferguson, or a quarter of a Bando.

May 2, 2013 at 11:06 AM  
Anonymous Disa Pointed said...

Who won the Thursday night exhibition game and how did the Wild Cubs look?

May 10, 2013 at 7:07 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

WT won the Thursday game 8-6.
Friday game cancelled.
It's all on their web page.

May 11, 2013 at 9:10 AM  
Blogger Chris Dugan said...

You can check the O-R, too:

http://www.observer-reporter.com/article/20130509/SPORTS04/130509241/-1/SPORTS04#.UY70s53D-1s

http://www.observer-reporter.com/article/20130510/SPORTS/130519917/-1/SPORTS#.UY71vJ3D-1s

May 11, 2013 at 6:52 PM  

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