Renato Nunez showing what young, future Athletics can do

Twenty-two-year-old corner infielder Renato Nunez is the Athletics’ number five rated prospect and he’s been showing what the up-and-coming young A’s can do while playing winter ball.

Renato Nunez saw some big league time as a September call-up in 2016 and the way he’s been playing in the Venezuelan Winter League, it seems we may be seeing a lot more of him in 2017.

He spent the majority of the 2016 season at Triple-A Nashville.

Even though he batted just .228 with an on-base percentage that could use quite a bit of help, he hit 23 home runs and drove in 75.

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Currently Nunez is playing winter ball in Venezuela where he is turning heads and making himself known.

Nunez has hit 10 home runs in just 30 games with the Tigres de Aragua.

His overall batting totals are showing not only improvement but excellence too. In his first 30 games Nunez is batting .330/.414/.626 with 25 RBIs, 21 runs scored and a 15-25 walk-to-strikeout ratio.

Those numbers are huge and it will be interesting to see if he keeps it up throughout the rest of winter league play. He is currently on a hitting streak that was extended to eight games on Saturday so he doesn’t appear to be slowing down, according to MiLB.com:

He is one of a group of talented young prospects who will arrive in the big leagues within the next two or three seasons. In fact, almost all of the A’s top 30 prospects will be big league ready right around the same time.

Some of these prospects names you may already know, while others may be new to you. Of course some will stay and some will be traded away for veterans who can help the new young team the A’s will have.

Prospects likely to join Nunez on the A’s are top prospect shortstop Franklin Barreto, pitchers Frankie Montas, Daniel Mengden and Jharel Cotton, infielders Joey Wendle and Ryon Healy, outfielder Matt Olson and more.

Each one of the prospects mentioned has had at least some big league time in September, while others, like the handlebar mustache sporting Mengden, were called up early due to injuries to the A’s starting staff in 2016.

Most impressive last season, however, was definitely the pitching of Cotton – one of the three pitchers the A’s picked up when they traded Josh Reddick and Rich Hill to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Cotton started five games for the Athletics in 2016 posting a record of 2-0 with the A’s winning four of Cotton’s five starts.

He allowed just one earned run in each of his first four starts and three in his fifth game against the Seattle Mariners. He finished the season with a 2.15 ERA.

While Cotton showed off his skills during the season, another pick up in the Reddick-Hill trade pitcher Frankie Montas dominated in the Arizona Fall League, taking part in both a combined no-hitter and starting the Fall League Championship Game, leading the Mesa Solar Sox to victory.

The A’s young talent may not show itself fully in 2017, maybe not even in 2018, but within a few years when all these kids are big league ready the rest of the league should be a bit worried about the Oakland A’s.