Baseball Prospectus

MLB Statistics

Statistics for All Levels

Plate Discipline

Preseason Long-Term Forecast (Beyond the 2019 Projections)

Comparable Players (Similarity Index 76)

Rank	Score	Name	Year	Run Average	Trend
1	83	Jae Weong Seo	2008	0.00	DNP
2	81	Glendon Rusch	2006	7.73
3	81	Jeff Karstens	2014	0.00	DNP
4	80	Gary Glover	2008	5.47
5	80	Jesse Chavez	2015	4.47
6	80	Josh Towers	2008	0.00	DNP
7	80	Randy Wolf	2008	4.73
8	79	Craig Stammen	2015	0.00
9	79	Josh Tomlin	2016	5.02
10	79	Bobby Shantz	1957	3.02
11	79	Buddy Carlyle	2009	9.70
12	79	Justin Miller	2009	3.18
13	79	Tony Armas	2009	0.00	DNP
14	78	Dave Giusti	1971	3.24
15	78	Jorge Sosa	2009	6.85
16	78	Jeff Weaver	2008	0.00	DNP
17	78	Chad Gaudin	2014	0.00	DNP
18	78	Jeremy Hellickson	2018	4.04
19	78	Miguel Gonzalez	2015	5.04
20	78	Carlos Villanueva	2015	3.10
21	78	Pat Dobson	1973	4.73
22	77	Tommy Milone	2018	5.81
23	77	Turk Farrell	1965	4.06
24	77	Chuck Porter	1986	0.00	DNP
25	77	Glen Perkins	2014	4.23
26	77	Tom Gorzelanny	2014	1.29
27	77	Ray Sadecki	1972	3.81
28	77	Ray Herbert	1961	5.04
29	76	Victor Santos	2008	0.00	DNP
30	76	Dave Borkowski	2008	7.50
31	76	R.A. Dickey	2006	18.90
32	76	Ernie Johnson	1955	3.67
33	76	Rodrigo Lopez	2007	4.88
34	76	Joe Price	1988	4.82
35	76	Todd Wellemeyer	2010	5.68
36	76	Kris Benson	2006	5.16
37	76	Ken Johnson	1964	4.13
38	76	Scott Richmond	2011	0.00
39	76	Juan Nicasio	2018	6.43
40	76	Don Drysdale	1968	2.38
41	76	Ervin Santana	2014	4.13
42	76	Bruce Chen	2008	0.00	DNP
43	76	Wei-Yin Chen	2017	3.82
44	76	Joe Hesketh	1990	5.28
45	76	Dennis Leonard	1982	5.65
46	76	Sonny Siebert	1968	3.33
47	76	Tim Redding	2009	5.40
48	76	Tyler Walker	2007	1.26
49	76	Jeff Francis	2012	5.65
50	76	Craig Swan	1982	3.79
51	75	Dick Hughes	1969	0.00	DNP
52	75	Aaron Harang	2009	4.49
53	75	Tim Stauffer	2013	3.75
54	75	Brandon McCarthy	2015	5.87
55	75	Jeff Samardzija	2016	3.90
56	75	Mickey Harris	1948	5.17
57	75	Pascual Perez	1988	2.82
58	75	Rick Rhoden	1984	3.06
59	75	Denny Galehouse	1943	3.02
60	75	Boof Bonser	2013	0.00	DNP
61	75	Brian Bannister	2012	0.00	DNP
62	75	Phil Hughes	2017	6.20
63	74	Joe Blanton	2012	4.99
64	74	Brandon Morrow	2016	2.25
65	74	Bud Norris	2016	5.34
66	74	Odalis Perez	2009	0.00	DNP
67	74	Larry French	1939	3.81
68	74	Dick Tidrow	1978	4.22
69	74	Claude Passeau	1940	3.20
70	74	Chad Billingsley	2016	0.00	DNP
71	74	Jason Vargas	2014	3.95
72	74	Bill Werle	1952	5.06
73	74	John Candelaria	1985	4.02
74	74	Yusmeiro Petit	2016	4.79
75	74	Herb Pennock	1925	3.94
76	74	Kevin Correia	2012	4.68
77	74	Scott Sanderson	1988	5.28
78	74	Mark Clark	1999	8.84
79	74	Gene Conley	1962	4.32	DNP
80	74	Matt Belisle	2011	4.13
81	73	Josh Fogg	2008	7.93
82	73	Andy Benes	1999	5.31
83	73	Stu Miller	1959	3.54
84	73	Bob Muncrief	1947	5.00
85	73	Claudio Vargas	2009	1.74
86	73	Ross Ohlendorf	2014	0.00	DNP
87	73	Saul Rogovin	1955	4.40
88	73	Max Surkont	1953	4.10
89	73	Bob Welch	1988	3.94
90	73	Chad Durbin	2009	4.91
91	73	Pedro Astacio	2000	5.46
92	73	Vicente Padilla	2009	4.64
93	73	Livan Hernandez	2006	5.21
94	73	Woody Main	1953	18.00
95	73	J.A. Happ	2014	4.50
96	73	Scott Baker	2013	3.60
97	73	Vladimir Nunez	2006	0.00	DNP
98	73	Carl Pavano	2007	5.56
99	73	Jack Scott	1923	4.12
100	73	Randy Gumpert	1949	4.57

BP Annual Player Comments

Year		Comment
2019		Due to publishing agreements, the 2019 player comments and team essays are only available in the Baseball Prospectus 2019 book (available in hardcopy, and soon e-book and Kindle).
2018		Vidal Nuno seemed like an ideal fit for the Orioles: a cheap, strike-throwing lefty who could spot start or mop up. Instead, he couldn't find the strike zone, gave up runs in eight of his 12 appearances and cleared waivers in June.
2017		Nuno spent 2016 like a Westworld host stuck on a tragic loop; almost a third of his appearances came when the Mariners were down three or more runs. His role was to be roughed up a bit when a lefty was required, only to be trotted back out a few turns later for lack of other options. He’ll hope such violent delights have Hollywood ends after being shipped to the Dodgers for Carlos Ruiz.
2016		For the second time in two seasons, Nuno was traded midseason, this time from the Diamondbacks to the Mariners as part of a six-player swap. Nuno's desirability as a trade chip stems mostly from the fact that he is a left-handed pitcher who inhales oxygen, but the hope was that the spacious dimensions at Safeco would keep his home run tendencies in check. It worked, but only when he was pitching at Safeco. He surrendered 10 home runs in 39 innings on the road, a number that can't merely be explained away by small sample size. At worst, it is easy to envision Nuno as a LOOGY for the next 5-10 years, based on his radical splits.
2015		Nuno has pitched in 10 different leagues as a professional, but it looks like the National League might be home. Shipped from the Yankees to the Diamondbacks mid-season, the left-hander turned in a solid performance as a member of the senior circuit. Trading the designated hitter for opposing pitchers, he increased his strikeouts and dropped his walks, dominating lefties with a two-punch combination of glove-side fastballs and sliders. None of his five pitches—pair of fastballs, slider, curveball, and changeup—tops 90, and the inability (or lack of confidence) to place fastballs on the corners against right-handers leaves too many pitches over the plate. The move west brought forth an emphasis on fastballs, especially elevated, especially with two strikes. The next homer will always be looming, given his fly-ball approach, but you could do worse in the back of a rotation.
2014		Drafted by the Indians in the 48th round in 2009, Nuno was released by Cleveland two years later and signed by the Yankees after a stint in the Frontier League. Since then, he’s made them look smart, recording a 2.10 ERA in 248 innings across every level from Low-A to the majors. Called up to the big club in late April when Ivan Nova went down, Nuno BABIPed his way to success over three starts and two relief appearances, but after being sent down to Scranton, he injured his groin and missed the rest of the season. A classic crafty lefty with a high-80s heater and plenty of supporting stuff—including a sinker, a slider, a curve and a changeup that’s become a reliable out pitch—Nuno isn’t overpowering but hits his spots. He won’t miss as many bats in the big leagues as he has at lower levels, so he might be more of a long man than a long-term starter, but even that would be a win considering where he came from.

BP Articles

BP Chats

BP Roundtables

PITCHf/x Pitcher Profile

A Collaboration between BrooksBaseball.net and Baseball Prospectus - Pitch classifications provided by Pitch Info LLC

Although he has not thrown an MLB pitch in 2024, Vidal Nuño threw 6,085 pitches that were tracked by the PITCHf/x system between 2013 and 2023, including pitches thrown in . In 2023, he relied primarily on his Slider (82mph) and Fourseam Fastball (87mph), also mixing in a Change (80mph).