The Los Angeles Dodgers have signed internet sensation Chris Nunn, to a minor league deal. The lefty fire baller has been a social media darling.
Breaking news: the Los Angeles Dodgers are signing Chris Nunn to a minor league deal.
Now, normally, minor league signings don’t warrant much interest from fans and teams alike. Teams are always churning through depth at the minor league level or pushing guys through waivers.
This minor league signing is different though.
Looking at his player page, Nunn is an LHP who was originally drafted by the San Diego Padres and then was a Rule 5 selection of the Houston Astros who made it to AAA in 2018 but had minimal success, tallying a 13.50 ERA in 7.1 innings.
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Nunn caught on in independent ball where he pitched to a 3.05 ERA in 59 innings. What makes the 28-year-old pitcher stand out though is that he stands 6’5″ and brings the HEAT. Consider the following tweet. Left-handers who throw that hard don’t grow on trees folks but you already knew that.
What makes Nunn unique is the way he gained notoriety and attention from teams. Back in January, Rob Friedman, better known as the pitching ninja, launched a service called “Flatground.”
The goal of the service can be found in the Twitter handle, but its mission is to harness the power of social media and the internet to break down barriers for pitchers. It helps get exposure and mechanical tips to pitchers of all economic backgrounds and all levels.
As you can see in the above tweet of Nunn hitting 100, he became a staple and extremely popular on “Flatground’s” twitter handle. Nunn originally signed with the Texas Rangers but was let go of in spring training.
Nunn has again harnessed the power of social media (and his heater) to catch on with the Los Angeles Dodgers. It is unknown what level he will report to, but the Dodgers have shown a knack for creating useful relievers for their ever-churning pitching staff.
Nunn is a trailblazer in a way and it provides proof that if you have the talent teams will find you whether on an obscure backfield in Iowa, an academy in the Carribean, or even from viral videos on Twitter. “Flatground” too could enhance the way teams scout pitchers at the High School and small college level.
There aren’t enough scouts to travel miles and miles to see pitchers. Throw in inclement weather, injuries, and other things, getting seen can be difficult. While pitchers, especially high schoolers, are one of the riskier bets in the draft, a front office employee could scour “Flatground” for video and find obscure diamonds they didn’t know existed or wouldn’t have otherwise found.
Baseball is cutthroat in many ways especially when it comes to scouting and identifying talent. “Flatground” gives teams another tool in their arsenal to search across the country and internationally.
Whether Nunn is successful as a big leaguer remains to be seen. What he has done, however, is successfully leverage the internet to create another entry path into professional baseball for guys after him.