Abraham O. Nunez #10

Abraham Orlando Nunez...Graduate of Emmanuel High School (Santo Domingo), where he played baseball and volleyball.

2006

Was the Opening Day 3rd baseman, 4/3 vs STL, but made just 10 more starts there until becoming the everyday 3rd baseman following the trade of David Bell on 7/28...Also made 5 starts at 2nd base and 2 at shortstop...Tied his career high with a 9-game hitting streak (3rd time), 8/8-17 (.371, 13-35, 5 RBI)...Also tied his career high with 4 RBI, 8/20 vs WSH...Had an 0-for-20 streak, 8/22-29, that was snapped with a 3-hit game,8/29 at WSH...Made just 2 errors over a 40-game span, 8/11-9/25...Batted .400 (12-30), 7 RBI, 9 BB over a 10-game span, 9/9-20...Hit .283 (17-60), 11 RBI, 16 BB, .442 OBP in his final 18 games.

2004

Nunez ranked fourth in the National League with 62 at-bats as a pinch-hitter. His 15 pinch hits fell four short of the franchise single-season record. Nunez made 32 appearances at second base, 13 at shortstop and six at third base. He tossed 1/3 scoreless inning of relief against the Cubs on May 30 in his first career pitching appearance.

2003

Made his third straight Opening Day roster (fourth total) with the Pirates...Established career highs in games, triples, home runs, RBI and runs scored...Tied for fifth in the National League in triples...Went 2-for-4 in first start on 4/5 @Philadelphia...Snapped an 0-for-15 streak with two singles on 4/24 vs. San Francisco...Tallied first RBI on 5/1 @San Diego and also swiped two bases in 9th inning...Made second career appearance @third base on 5/6 @Houston (also 7/29/01 vs. Houston). ...Went 7-for-17 (.412) in five starts from 4/24 thru 5/12...Went 36 games without an extra-base hit (dating back to 9/29/02) before double on 5/27 @Chicago (NL)...Snapped an 0-for-14 slump as a pinch hitter with a single on 6/5 vs. Boston (his only hit as a pinch hitter in 2003)...Made a total of 16 starts in May...Tripled and scored the winning run on a wild pitch on 6/21 vs. Cleveland (15-inning affair)...Went 3-for-23 (.120) in nine games from 6/13 to 7/1, but then hit safely in five straight starts from 7/1-13...Hit first home run on 7/11 @Houston (off Octavio Dotel), his first roundtripper since 7/2/02 vs. Milwaukee (103 games). ...Batted .364 (16-for-44) with eight RBI and 12 runs scored in 13 games from 7/12 thru 8/3...Went 3-for-4 with a triple and an RBI on 7/26 @St. Louis...Recorded a career-high seven-game hit streak from 7/28 thru 8/3...Eclipsed his career high in RBI with a solo home run on 8/3 vs. Colorado...Went 38 straight plate appearances before striking out on 8/12 vs. St. Louis...Was 5-for-12 with two triples and four RBI over a four-game stretch from 8/21-27...Had just one hit in 16 at bats from 8/29 thru 9/5 before going 10-for-22 (.455) in his next six games...Batted .333 (14-for-42) from 9/6-20...Homered in consecutive starts on 9/10 @Cincinnati and 9/12 vs. Philadelphia...Appeared as the leadoff batter six times and went 8-for-28 (.286)...Hit all four home runs while batting left handed...Made 71 appearances @second base (60 starts), 23 @shortstop (14 starts) and one @third base (5/6 @Houston).

2002

Spent majority of season with Pittsburgh ... Made 46 appearances (37 starts) at second base and 24 appearances (15 starts) at shortstop ... Was club's most-used pinch hitter, going 5-for-43 (.116) with four RBI ... Established career highs in doubles and home runs ... Went 2-for-15 in his first 10 games thru 4/17...Had three hits and scored a season-high three runs on 4/21 vs. Philadelphia...Went 5-for-13 (.385) with four runs scored in a four-game stretch from 4/19-23...Appeared in the leadoff spot of the batting order for the first of 17 times on 4/26 vs. San Diego and went hitless in four at bats...Hit .294 (20-for-67), walked seven times and scored seven runs as the leadoff hitter ... Was optioned to Nashville (AAA) on 5/11...Made three starts at shortstop, one at second base and one in center field (5/18 --- game two) with the Sounds ... Hit safely in three of his five games and was recalled by Pittsburgh on 5/19...Delivered a pinch-hit, RBI-single in first game back with Pirates on 5/21 at Chicago (NL)...Went 3-for-4 with a double and three RBI on 6/2 at St. Louis, raising average to a season-high .264...Snapped 0-for-14 streak with a pinch-hit single on 6/7 vs. Milwaukee...Hit first home run on 7/2 vs. Milwaukee and second round-tripper on 7/20 vs. St. Louis...Snapped an 0-for-20 streak as a pinch hitter with a run-scoring single on 8/13 vs. St. Louis...Doubled twice on 8/24 at Milwaukee...Hit safely in a season-high four straight games from 8/24-28 (5-for-16, .313) ... Had six infield hits, including a pair of bunt base hits.

Notes: (thru 2002)

CAREER TRANSACTIONS: Signed by Toronto as a non-drafted free agent on 5/5/94... Acquired by Pittsburgh from Toronto on 12/11/96, along with pitcher Mike Halperin and catcher/outfielder Craig Wilson, as the players to be named later in deal from 11/14/96 in which Pirates acquired pitchers Jose Pett and Jose Silva and infielder Brandon Cromer in exchange for infielder Carlos Garcia, outfielder Orlando Merced and pitcher Dan Plesac.

ML SERVICE: 2 year, 135 days

CONTRACT: Signed thru 2003

M.L. SERVICE: 3 years, 135 days

MOST HR/GAME: 1 HR (5 times), last on 7/20/02 vs. St. Louis.

MOST HITS/GAME: 4 hits, 8/8/01 vs. Los Angeles ... 3 hits (5 times), last on 6/2/02 at St. Louis.

MOST RBI/GAME: 4 RBI, 6/12/01 at Detroit ... 3 RBI (3 times), 6/2/02 at St. Louis, 9/2/00 at San Diego & 6/7/99 at Detroit.

GRAND SLAMS: None.

LONGEST HITTING STREAK: 2002: 4 games, Career: 5 games (2001, 2000 & 1999).

His eight-year minor league totals include a .274 average (544-for-1984), 17 home runs, 178 RBI and 164 stolen bases (234 attempts) in 522 games.

Began career as a second baseman, but was moved to shortstop mid-way through the 1996 season

Has made 370 appearances at shortstop (75 errors), 152 at second base (37 errors) and one in center field (5/18/02 - game two) during his minor league career.

2001

Spent entire season with Pittsburgh - his first full major league campaign...Established career highs in nearly every offensive category...Made a total of 48 appearances (33 starts) at shortstop and 45 (31 starts) at second base...Also made first major league appearance in left field on 7/21 at St. Louis and first big-league appearance at third base on 7/29 vs. Houston. ...Made two errors at shortstop and two at second base...Had 18 infield hits, including a team-high six bunt singles...Went 5-for-6 in consecutive games on 4/14-15 and tallied nine hits in his first 16 at bats...Went hitless in his next 16 games thru 5/12 (20 at bats), dropping average from .563 to .250...Appeared in the lead-off spot of the batting order for the first time on 5/19...Made a total of 37 starts from the lead-off spot and went 37-for-145 (.255) with 15 runs scored...Collected career-high four RBI on 6/12 at Detroit. ...Connected off Dustin Hermanson for pinch-homer on 7/20 at St. Louis - his only home run of the season and the third of his career. ...Tied career high (third time) with five-game hitting streak from 7/19-25 (10-for-15, .667)...Had career-high four hits on 8/8 vs. Los Angeles...Suffered strained right hamstring on 9/8 and missed remainder of the season...Collected two hits and three RBI in his first two pinch-hitting appearances, but then went 3-for-32 with two RBI off the bench from that point on.

2000

Spent majority of season with Nashville (AAA) ... Did not commit an error in 27 consecutive games between 4/9 and 5/8 ... Posted season-best seven-game hitting streak between 4/20-28, going 9-for-28 (.321) ... Hit .291 in 55 games with Sounds before being recalled by Pittsburgh on 6/6 ... Appeared in the lead-off spot of the batting order in first start on 6/6 vs. Detroit ... Went 1-for-6 as a pinch hitter during the month of June ... Made two starts in July before being optioned back to Triple-A on 7/4 ... Recalled by Pirates on 7/13 ... Played in three games (one start) before being optioned back to Nashville on 7/24 ... Had four hits @ Omaha on 7/26. ... Recalled a third and final time on 8/29 ... Made 80 appearances @ shortstop and 10 @ second base while playing with the Sounds ... Delivered pinch-hit, game-winning RBI @ San Diego on 9/1 ... Tied career high with three RBI on 9/2 @ San Diego ... Connected off Houston's Scott Elarton @ Enron Field for second Major League home run on 9/17 (first one came on 9/12/98) ... Made a total of 21 appearances (15 starts) @ shortstop and six appearances (three starts) @ second base while playing with the Pirates. ... Committed both of his errors (one throwing/one fielding) while playing shortstop ... Went 3-for-12 with an RBI as a pinch hitter.

1999

Spent majority of season with Pittsburgh and established career highs in every offensive category ... Ranked second among National League hitters with 13 sacrifice bunts (Houston's Shane Reynolds led the league with 17). ... Began season with the Pirates and went 2-for-4 with two doubles in first start @ shortstop on 4/10 vs. Chicago (NL) ... Hit .278 (5-for-18) in seven games (five starts) before being optioned to Nashville on 4/23 ... Made 14 starts @ shortstop for Nashville between 4/26 and 5/11 ... Hit .172 (5-for-29) in his first eight games with the Sounds and .448 (13-for-29) in his last seven ... Was recalled by Pittsburgh on 5/12 when Pat Meares went on the D.L. and remained with the Pirates for the duration of the season ... Hit just .154 (6-for-39) in 13 games between 5/14 and 6/5 ... Picked up career-high three RBI on 6/7 @ Detroit ... Hit .333 during a career-best five-game hitting streak between 7/20-25 (5-for-15) ... Made 12 straight starts @ shortstop between 7/30 and 8/10 and batted .233 (10-for-43) with five RBI and seven sacrifice bunts ... Tallied just one RBI (9/17) in his final 35 contests ... Went 1-for-10 as a pinch hitter, collecting a single in his first pinch-hit at bat on 5/31 vs. Los Angeles ... Made 65 appearances (58 starts) @ shortstop and 14 appearances (all starts) @ second base for the Pirates ... Committed 13 errors (nine fielding/four throwing) while playing shortstop and had one fielding miscue @ second base ... Swiped nine bases in 10 attempts.

1998

Spent full season with Nashville (AAA) ... Made 94 appearances @ shortstop and committed 21 errors ... Went hitless in his first two games and 2-for-13 in his first four before picking up three hits on 4/11 vs. Colorado Springs ... Was on disabled list with a sprained left wrist between 4/24 and 5/30 ... Went 4-for-18 in a five-game rehab assignment with Lynchburg between 5/31 and 6/3 (made four appearances @ short and one @ second base) ... Raised average to a season-high .276 after hitting safely in seven straight games between 6/11-18 (12-for-32, .375) ... Tallied five doubles, eight RBI and five multi-hit efforts during the streak ... Hit first Triple-A home run on 6/11 vs. Iowa (game two) ... Went 5-for-46 (.109) in a 15-game stretch between 7/11-23 ... Snapped the funk with a 4-for-5 performance on 7/24 @ Colorado Springs; the start of a seven-game hitting streak (12-for-31, .387) ... Collected just one extra-base hit - a double on 8/21 - in his final 30 games ... Hit safely in his last four games (6-for-16, .375) ... Was recalled by Pittsburgh on 9/1 and started three straight games @ shortstop ... Went 0-for-8 in those three games and 1-for-15 in his first nine (six starts) ... Went hitless in first 10 at bats before singling off Chicago's Kevin Tapani on 9/5 ... Raised average to a season-high .227 following back-to-back two-hit games on 9/11-12 ... Connected off Mark Portugal @ Veterans Stadium for first Major League home run on 9/12 ... Went hitless in his next six games (nine at bats), before hitting safely in five of his last seven (5-for-21, .238) ... Hit .243 (9-for-37) after his 1-for-15 start ... Made 23 appearances (20 starts) @ shortstop and committed seven errors (four fielding/three throwing) ... Made first error in a Pittsburgh uniform on 9/2 vs. Arizona ... Committed a club record three errors in one inning (8th) on 9/5 vs. Chicago (NL) ... Had six errors in his first nine games, but just one in his final 14 ... Two of his three infield hits were of the bunt variety ... Played winter ball with Escogido in the Dominican League and hit .247 (42-for-170) with one home run and 17 RBI in 44 games.

1997

Began season with Lynchburg (A) ... Hit .161 (14-for-87) with six RBI in April ... Hit first home run as member of Pirates organization on 5/9 @ Durham ... Collected four hits on 5/11 @ Durham ... Hit safely in 11 straight games (15-for-45, .333) between 5/19-30 ... Had 21 multi-hit games and eight multi-RBI contests with Lynchburg ... Hit .333 (9-for-27) in his last five games with the Hillcats before being promoted to Carolina (AA) on 6/29 ... Went 2-for-4 vs. Jacksonville in first game with the Mudcats ... Compiled a 16-game hitting streak (35-for-73, .479) between 7/2-22 ... Was hitting .466 following four-hit performance on 7/19 @ Birmingham ... Also had four-hit games on 7/6 @ Huntsville and 8/19 vs. Birmingham ... Hit .384 (43-for-112) in 25 games during the month of July ... Went 2-for-21 in his final six games with Carolina ... Made 78 appearances @ shortstop (15 errors) with Lynchburg and 47 (11 errors) @ Double-A ... Hit .287 with four home runs, 46 RBI and 39 stolen bases with the two clubs ... Had contract purchased by Pittsburgh on 8/27 and made first Major League start (SS) that afternoon vs. Los Angeles ... His first Major League hit was a two-run triple off the Dodgers' Dennys Reyes on 8/27 (second at bat) ... Went 3-for-9 in his first two games, but just 4-for-27 (.148) in his next 16 contests ... Went 2-for-4 with an RBI in season finale @ Houston on 9/28 ... Made eight starts @ shortstop and two @ second base for the Pirates ... Did not commit an error in 12 games @ short (34 chances) and nine games @ second (17 chances) ... Four of his nine hits were extra-base hits and three were of the infield variety, including one bunt base hit.

1996...
Spent entire season with St. Catharines (Blue Jays' A) ... Was selected to the New York-Penn League All-Star team ... Led club in hits and ranked second in the league in stolen bases ... Made 52 appearances @ shortstop (12 errors) and 24 @ second base (three errors) ... Led league shortstops with a .953 fielding percentage.

1995...
Spent second straight season playing in Summer Dominican League ... Made all defensive appearances @ second base and committed just seven errors.

1994...
Began professional career as a second baseman with the Dominican Blue Jays ... Ranked third among league second basemen with 27 errors.

1996

Spent entire season with St. Catharines (Blue Jays' A) ... Was selected to the New York-Penn League All-Star team ... Led club in hits and ranked second in the league in stolen bases ... Made 52 appearances @ shortstop (12 errors) and 24 @ second base (three errors) ... Led league shortstops with a .953 fielding percentage.

1995

Spent second straight season playing in Summer Dominican League ... Made all defensive appearances @ second base and committed just seven errors.

1994

Began professional career as a second baseman with the Dominican Blue Jays ... Ranked third among league second basemen with 27 errors.