San Francisco Giants: Who should be the primary third baseman in 2017?
By Anthony Sosa
Eduardo Nunez
The Giants acquired Eduardo Nunez from the Twins near the trade deadline last season. With the Twins, Nunez earned his first All-Star Game appearance in 2016. In 91 games with the Twins, he batted .296 with 12 home runs, 47 RBI and 49 runs.
When Nunez played for the Giants, his numbers went down. In 50 games, he hit just four home runs, drove in 20 runs and batted .269. Nunez joined a Giants’ offense that slumped mightily in the second half of 2016.
In his career, Nunez has hit for a .273 average, 34 homers and 187 RBI. He produced well in his first season with over 140 games played. But was last season more of a fluke or the result of a lot of playing time? The Giants are hoping for the former.
According to fangraphs.com, Eduardo Nunez hits better when playing third base. In 79 games at third base, he hit 10 home runs with 41 RBI and a .323 average. Compare that to shortstop, where Nunez hit 6 home runs with 23 RBI and a .251 average.
After last season’s performance, Nunez leads the running for the Giants’ opening day third baseman. But, don’t mark him as a guarantee, just yet.