Chris McCosky | The Detroit News
Lakeland, Fla. — You kind of expected Renato Nunez to be at least a little embittered.
A guy hits 43 home runs, knocks in 121 runs, has a combined 106 OPS-plus, ranks in the top 20 percentile in barrels (exit velocity of 95 mph or better) and hard-hit rate in 203 games over 2019 and 2020, he’s just entering his prime production years (age-27 season) and he gets designated for assignment? By the rebuilding Baltimore Orioles?
And if that’s not enough cause for indignation, he is passed over by the other 29 teams and the best he can get is a minor-league deal and camp invite from the Tigers?
Why wouldn’t he be a little salty about that? Except he wasn’t. At all.
Turns out, a lot of sting was washed away because it was the Tigers who reached out to him. As a boy in Venezuela, the Tigers were his favorite team, loaded as they were with Venezuelan heroes — Magglio Ordonez, Carlos Guillen, Armando Galarraga and of course, his boyhood idol, Miguel Cabrera.
“I feel blessed to be here and be part of the Detroit Tigers,” Nunez said Thursday in his first Zoom interview with Detroit media.
Nunez was 9 when Cabrera was a rookie with the Florida Marlins. So how did Miggy capture the young Nunez’s heart?
“Man, because he rakes,” he said. “He rakes all the time. And he has fun playing baseball. I saw him play in winter ball too back in the day. I watched him when he was winning the Triple Crown and all those amazing years he had.
“So now, being in the same clubhouse, talking to him, learning from him — what can I say? It’s just amazing.”
Nunez, unlike most non-roster invitees, has a chance not only to win a roster spot, but to be the Tigers regular first baseman. That, too, takes some of the sting out of accepting a make-good deal.
“What happened (last year) is part of the business,” he said. “It’s in the past. I am just looking forward. I am a Detroit Tigers player now and I’m ready to play and to help this team win games.”
Tigers manager AJ Hinch has clearly laid out exactly how Nunez can make that happen.
“He has to show he’s comfortable playing first base and we’re comfortable with him playing first base,” Hinch said.
If Nunez can show he’s not a complete liability at first base (he will not be playing third base except in an emergency), it makes the Tigers’ roster construction a little clearer with Jeimer Candelario locking in at third base.
“It’s always a little awkward for a guy who has already performed in the big leagues when you say, ‘Hey, you got to come and try to make our team,’” Hinch said. “But that’s the reality for him. That doesn’t mean he has to hit 10 home runs or that he has to make every play.
“But we have to evaluate the multiple ways we would use him on the roster. The primary DH is Miggy. That leaves Nunez’s defensive usefulness as the thing that’s under the microscope in this camp.”
Nunez is well aware of that. He snuck in 11 games in the Venezuela winter league just so he could get some work at first base. While he was waiting for his work visa and COVID-19 intake clearance, he continued to work out and take reps when and wherever he could.
“You have to be a complete player if you want to be in the MLB,” he said. “That’s what I’m going to do. That’s what I’ve been working on. I feel great at first base, just really excited to start playing.”
Hinch hit him a round of fungos on the back fields Tuesday.
“He moves around pretty good,” Hinch said. “I know he’s moved around the diamond some, played third base. But he’s going to focus only on first base here. That’s his best path to our team. That and what he does in the batter’s box.”
The Tigers signed power-hitting first baseman C.J. Cron last season and his presence made a tangible difference. But he blew his knee out early and the Tigers were not the same after. The hope is Nunez can be that guy this year.
“I just play hard,” Nunez said. “I can add some power and some versatility for the manager. I am going to be a player, man. I am going to run the bases hard, play hard and I’m going to be a great teammate. I like to talk to everybody.”
He’s also going to have to get his folks and friends the MLB TV package. They’re pretty pumped about him wearing the Olde English D.
“The day I signed with Detroit, all my family was so happy about it,” he said. “I’ve got a lot of friends in Venezuela and they were texting and calling me. They’re all so happy I signed with the Tigers.”
chris.mccosky@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @cmccosky