5:10pm: The O’s have officially announced that Nunez has cleared waivers and is back with them. He has been assigned to their minor league camp.
4:25pm: The Padres are returning Rule 5 pick Juan Nunez to the Orioles, reports Jesse Rogers of ESPN. Rule 5 players have to clear waivers before being offered back to their original club. It’s not clear if that has happened yet. Regardless, the Padres open a 40-man roster spot. If Nunez officially winds up back with the Orioles, he will not need to take a 40-man spot with that club.
Nunez, 24, is a right-handed pitcher who has worked both as a starter and reliever. Originally a Twins prospect, he was one of four players sent to the Orioles as part of the August 2022 Jorge López trade.
In his time in the minors, he has posted a large number of strikeouts but also plenty of walks. From 2021 to 2024, he tossed 230 2/3 innings across various levels with a 3.32 earned run average. He punched out 29.6% of opponents but gave out free passes at an 11% clip.
He started 2024 at the High-A level. He was shut down in May with a shoulder injury, limiting him to just seven starts on the year. That made him something of a surprise pick in the Rule 5, since he still hadn’t even reached the Double-A level. Per J.J. Cooper of Baseball America, he was slowed by that shoulder again to start camp. He eventually made four appearances in the Cactus League but gave out six walks compared to just four strikeouts.
Nunez was already going to have a tough path to breaking camp. He has no upper-level minor league experience and is coming off a mostly lost season. It certainly didn’t help that the shoulder problems carried over to this year and he struggled with his control.
The Padres also need to open a number of 40-man spots. They are planning to select the contracts of several non-roster invitees, with Jose Iglesias, Yuli Gurriel and Martín Maldonado reportedly all making the club. Nunez will open one spot. It also seems that Tyler Wade and Eguy Rosario are going to be removed, since both are out of options and aren’t going to make the Opening Day roster.
If only we had Juan more roster spot…
Take your like and leave me alone!
Another Juan bites the dust.
Uhhhh, no.
I would’ve been more surprised if Nunez had made the roster considering he hasn’t played above high-a.
Well, there the third name.
Juan Rojas is the fourth player the Orioles received from that trade.
On second thought. If they bring Gillaspie up, then he takes Nunez spot on the 40 man. So with Wade and Rosario out the door, still need one more discard to add the all of the ancient 3.
The 60 day IL
For who?
Waldron? The other SP that I won’t name that isn’t in the rotation on opening day?
Maybe Brito or when they announce that Darvish is getting TJ.
He’s 24 and only at A ball, that doesn’t exactly scream future major leaguer.
Average age at A ball last year ( according to Baseball Reference) was 23. So that was average for a prospect. And if you read the article you would have seen that he was shut down in May. So no major issue
Only their starting pitching is suspect. They don’t really have a # 1 or 2. The rest of their team is STACKED.
Not nearly as suspect as the staff that broke camp in 23. Heck, until the emergece of Bradish as the season progressed, Gibson was the “TOR”.
O’s didn’t Juan him any more
Players like Nunez, who have big potential but need time, keep getting picked and returned because teams don’t want to wait. The Orioles get him back for free and can develop him slowly without pressure. A clever team could flip this—they could grab these risky, high-talent guys on purpose, hold onto them even if it’s tough, and turn them into stars later when no one else bothers.
Old – the problem is roster space. While it may be “clever” the concept of keeping players that aren’t ready for 162 games at the mlb level while trying to compete for playoffs is not an easy one to overcome by say, a 24 man roster of mlb players.