Blue Wahoos' Nunez Soaks In, Shines As MVP In MLB Futures Game

The surreal experience of playing in the Futures All-Star Game was not lost on Blue Wahoos shortstop Nasim Nunez.

“I took the advice that was given to me before the game and looked around the stadium, looked at the sky, looked at the dirt, looked at everything and I took it all in,” said Nunez, speaking to media in Seattle at the annual event Saturday that has become a prelude to wherever the Major League Baseball All-Star Game is played.

“It was just amazing. Everything you could really dream of.”

He then created an unforgettable memory in baseball career.

In his lone at-bat, Nunez lined a bases-loaded pitch from Toronto Blue Jays prospect Yosver Zuelueta down the third base line and into the corner for a three-run double in the sixth inning that helped power the National League stars to a 5-0 win at T-Mobile Park, home of the Seattle Mariners.

Nunez followed the double by stealing third base. He then helped turn a double-play for Blue Wahoos teammate Patrick Monteverde, who ended the game on the mound Saturday with that groundout and final two outs.

“What a day, what a game, what a moment for him,” Monteverde said. “Much deserved.”

It earned Nunez the Larry Dolby Award as the game’s most valuable player, highlighting a big weekend for Blue Wahoos current and former players.

“MVP never crossed my mind until I got in the dugout and people started talking that talk like, ‘You're MVP!’” Nuñez said to media following the game in Seattle. “I was like, ‘All right, all right, all right. Chill..’

“I wouldn’t say it’s a shock, but like, wow. Last year I really wanted to come pretty bad (to Futures Game), but I didn’t get selected. This year I (decided) wasn’t going to focus on it. I am just going to play my game and work on my development.

“When my (Blue Wahoos) coaches told me I was coming, I was like, that’s crazy. It’s an honor and something I worked for.”

Nunez, 22, who grew up in the Bronx, New York, was the Miami Marlins second pick in the 2019 draft. He joined the Blue Wahoos last year in August and played a pivotal role in Pensacola’s run to winning the Southern League championship.

So far this season in Pensacola, the switch-hitter is batting .211 with four home runs, 31 RBIs and 33 steals in 76 games.

His stolen bases and defensive skills, however, are what helped get him the invitation to this year’s Futures Game. The Blue Wahoos have now had five representatives in the past three Futures Games with pitchers Max Meyer and Jake Eder in 2021, then Eury Perez last year and Nunez and Monteverde on Saturday.

“The bigger the stage, the bigger (Nunez) gets; he knows how to come up clutch,” Monteverde said to media in Seattle after the game. “He plays his game and sticks true to himself. He’s as confident in himself without being cocky or in an arrogant way as possible.”

“It’s baseball,” Nuñez said. “When I went up to the plate, it was just a regular at-bat. I did my breathing on deck, focused, picked up the ball out of the hand and was just ready to hit the ball. I think the first pitch he called a strike on me was a ball, but he threw it in the same spot and I swung this time and I got a double.”

Following the game, Nunez was joined on the field by former Mariners’ megastar Ken Griffey Jr., who presented him the Larry Dolby MVP award.

“It was really cool,” Nunez said. “I met Ken when I was 17 at the MLB Breakthrough Series. “As soon as I saw him I said, ‘Do you remember me.’ He made me take off my hat then he remembered me.”

Meanwhile, in Miami on Sunday, former Blue Wahoos centerfielder Dane Myers hit his first MLB home run, went 2-for-4, scored two runs and also had an amazing slide to avoid being tagged out on a run down. Also with the Marlins during the weekend was former Blue Wahoos closer Sean Reynolds, who did not make a game appearance, but got the experience of being the big leagues before the All-Star Game break.