Baltimore Orioles acquire pitcher Vidal Nuno from Dodgers
By Ben Palmer
The Baltimore Orioles have acquired pitcher Vidal Nuno from the Los Angeles Dodgers for minor league pitcher Ryan Moseley. Nuno last played for the Seattle Mariners and has experience as both a starter and reliever.
The Baltimore Orioles have acquired left-handed pitcher Vidal Nuno from the Los Angeles Dodgers for minor league pitcher Ryan Moseley, per Eduardo A. Encina. T.J. McFarland has been designated for assignment.
Nuno last played for the Seattle Mariners in the 2016 season and pitched entirely in relief (save for starting one game), racking up 58.2 innings and pitching a 3.53 ERA with a 1.33 WHIP and a 7.82 K/9.
The Baltimore Orioles will be the fifth organization for Nuno since 2014. He previously played for the New York Yankees, Arizona Diamondbacks, Seattle Mariners, and then signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers this offseason. Nuno was part of the trade that sent Mark Trumbo to Seattle and Welington Castillo to Arizona.
Nuno has is 29 years old and has experience both as a starter and as a reliever. The last time he was a full-time starter was in 2014 with the Yankees and the Diamondbacks. He pitched 161.2 innings with a 4.56 ERA, 1.26 WHIP, and a 7.18 K/9.
Nuno is known as a soft thrower, as his fastball only averages about 88 MPH, however he gets a lot of movement on the pitch, which works to his advantage. He also throws a slider at about the same velocity, along with a curveball, changeup, and the occasional cutter.
Nuno’s career splits against right handers and left handers are stark, with a BAA of .270 against righties, and .217 against lefties, leading me to believe he’ll likely be a left-handed specialist out of the bullpen with a few spot starts here and there.
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I wouldn’t be shocked, however, to see him pop into the rotation if he pitches well out of the bullpen, as it’s pretty likely we won’t see the best seasons out of Wade Miley and Ubaldo Jimenez, both of whom are the likely candidates for the fourth and fifth spots in the rotation.