VIDAL NUNO COULD BE THAT NEW YANKEE LEFTY

I know what you might be asking, "WHO?!"

Maybe you are thinking that this is another leftover that Brian Cashman picked up to fix a problem, but that's not the case. It's time to get acquainted with Vidal Nuno. He's been overshadowed the past year or so, but he has been around the Yankee farm system and he has dominated. The main reason why we don't know of him yet is because he has an unusual path to the Yankees and our bullpen was so good last year that he wasn't even on the radar. Now, we might be seeing more of him.

(In Photo: Nuno with Washington Wild)

Vidal Nuno is 25 years old, so he is a little older to be considered a prospect, but he has a great story. If nothing else, his story will give a lot of aspiring ball players out there drive the drive to keep pushing for their dream to come true. Nuno was playing on an independent team called the Washington Wild last year. He was previously drafted by the Cleveland Indians in the 48th round of the 2009 draft but they released him after two seasons. At the time, he only had a two pitch arsenal, but since then he has refined his skills and has progressed tremendously.

I'm sure it's not easy being cut from a team, but in this case his release from Cleveland may have been the motivation he needed to refine his skill set. After he was released and the Yankees gave him a shot he called the situation "do or die" read that HERE. He made the changes needed and developed three more pitches, so now he has a full range of pitches to give to opposing hitters, which is essential to any pitcher who wants to work his way up the ladder. He attributes his new success to developing a change up, but his best pitch is his slider.

Vidal started out in Tampa, and was eventually promoted to the Trenton team after they had a lot of pitchers go down with injuries. He did well on the team though and finished with a 2.45 ERA and logged 114 innings. Although Nuno has not spent anytime in Triple-A ball, he does have experience pitching, and he has pitched a lot of innings. Maybe it is time to challenge him.

All of this is important now because the Yankees are looking for some more left handed arms in the bullpen. Assuming that Boone Logan can stay healthy, the Yankees don't need a second lefty but the Yankees have preferred to have that extra arm for the past two seasons now. I worry about Logan because he has already been dealing with inflammation early during Spring Training. That could be from his career high 80 inning appearance last year and maybe his body just isn't ready for this kind of workload, who knows. Given the recent injury epidemic, this might not be a bad idea.

(In Photo: Clay Rapada)

For the time being Clay Rapada is on the shelf read that HERE from Eric Boland. Rapada has been shut down for two weeks now, and he isn't throwing off of a mound yet. He is playing catch, but he might not be ready for awhile now. Given the recent injury epidemic, losing the only left handed reliever that we have would be a big blow for the team. The Yankees need to exercise caution here, and you can never have enough depth, right? Especially not when it comes to pitching.

Nuno is an intriguing option. He isn't going to overpower anyone, but he does have great control and prides himself on his pitch location and his slider can be devastating. On Wednesday he gave five impressive shutout innings against the Red Sox where he gave up just two hits, one walk and struck out one batter. It would be nice to have a lefty in the bullpen who can serve as more than just a specialist role and can eat up some innings.

It's weird that we haven't heard a lot about Nuno, but it looks like his adjustments have served him well, and that "do or die" attitude has really pushed him to succeed. Given his impressive numbers, it makes you wonder if Rapada will be competing for a spot whether he comes back 100% healthy or not. Nuno gives the Yankees a different option that they don't have with either Logan or Rapada. The Yankees can give this guy the ball and let him eat up some innings and that isn't the case with either of these guys. In the summer when players struggle and sometimes run on empty he could really save the bullpen. I like Rapada and Logan, but maybe a fresh face will fool the Yankee opponents and give a fresh new look to the bullpen.

I like that the Yankees are thinking out of the box right now and if there is something we can do to make this team stronger and catch people by surprise we should embrace that. Considering that Nuno is relatively unknown he could be a secret weapon. Nuno has the guts and the grit to play, and he has made this a mission for himself so it is hard not to love that kind of charisma.

Nuno is giving the Yankees a lot to think about and that is hard to ignore, so should the Yankees give him the ball and let him prove himself yet again on the big stage? Tell us what you think!

--Jeana Bellezza, BYB Writer and Editor

Twitter: @NyPrincessJ



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