SEATTLE — Somewhat forgotten in the pre-deadline deal that brought slugger Mark Trumbo from Arizona, left-handed pitcher Vidal Nuno has proven to be a pretty valuable commodity to the Mariners this season.
After proving himself as a durable long reliever when Charlie Furbush went down with a biceps injury, Nuno is now doing a pretty good job filling in as a starter on the Mariners’ short-handed rotation. He made his second start of the season Monday, and though he suffered the loss to drop to 0-1 over 20 appearances with the Mariners, Nuno was plenty good enough to keep the Mariners in the game. He allowed two runs off five hits over five innings in the 3-2 loss to Baltimore.
“He just left one pitch up,” manager Lloyd McClendon said, referring to a first-inning homer by Orioles center fielder Adam Jones. “Other than that, he did a pretty nice job.”
Nuno did enough in his first start last week that McClendon said even before Monday’s game that he would get at least one more start. He joined the rotation as a spot starter after lefty J.A. Happ was traded to Pittsburgh, and the lack of a viable option at Triple-A Tacoma has left Nuno as the fifth starter for the time being.
Left-hander Roenis Elias, who had a solid rookie season in 2014 and was solid as a part-time starter with the Mariners earlier this season, is the only Triple-A starter with significant major-league experience, but he’s been struggling at Tacoma. Young phenom James Paxton is still making the slow recovery from a nagging finger injury that’s kept him out since late May, so the Mariners are suddenly pretty short-handed in terms of quality starters.
For now, Nuno has done his part to make sure Seattle can carry on without much drop-off.