Malcom Nu?ez #74

Malcom Nu?ez...Credits his grandmother for his passion for the game of baseball…Used to hit home runs in his backyard in Havana growing up with either baseballs or objects that substituted for them....Had no access to internet growing up and Cuban TV did not show MLB games…His baseball idol was Alfredo Despaigne, a star on the Cuban National Olympic team in 2008 that won a silver medal and in 2013 was the first Cuban permitted to play outside the country without defecting....Played with Cuba’s 15U team in Japan in 2016 WSBC Baseball World Cup (had 19 hits, nine walks and a .683 OBP while Cuba won the championship).

2022

Hit a combined .262 (109-for-416) with 16 doubles, 23 home runs, 88 RBI and an .833 OPS in 119 games between Springfield (Cardinals’ Double-A), Double-A Altoona and Triple-A Indianapolis…Finished tied for sixth among all players at the Double-A level with 87 RBI…Was named St. Louis’ organizational player-of-the-month for June after he led all Cardinals minor leaguers in batting average (.381), RBI (27), slugging (.726), OPS (1.180) and total bases (61) while also finishing tied for first in home runs (nine)…Was acquired by the Pirates along with pitcher Johan Oviedo on 8/1 in exchange for Jose Quintana and Chris Stratton…Was tied for third among all Cardinals minor leaguers in home runs (17) and RBI (66), sixth in slugging (.463) and eighth in OPS (.823) at the time he was acquired by the Pirates... Ranked third in the Texas League in home runs (17) and RBI (66) at the time he was acquired by the Pirates…Hit .304 with 14 home runs and 47 RBI from 6/1 to 7/31, the fourth-most RBI and tied for the 11th-most home runs by any player in MiLB in that time…Was rated as St. Louis’ 10th-best prospect according to MLB.com at the time he was acquired by the Pirates… Was promoted to Indianapolis on 9/20…Went deep in his Triple-A debut on 9/21…Made 90 appearances (85 starts) at first base and 16 appearances (15 starts) at third base between Springfield, Altoona and Indianapolis.