Nunez continues hot stretch for Sounds

Some of Renato Núñez's latest swings have been his loudest of the season, and he's been able to unleash them by learning when not to.
The A's No. 20 prospect homered for the fourth straight game and added a double Wednesday, but Triple-A Nashville fell to Round Rock, 7-3, at Dell Diamond.

"It's all about pitch selection with 'Nuney,'" Sounds hitting coach Eric Martins said. "He was chasing a little bit early, got off to a slow start and was just not really getting good pitches to hit. I kind of put him on restriction for about a week a couple weeks ago where during our work and during [batting practice], I would set two balls on the inner third of the plate and just said that he was not allowed to swing at that pitch.
"He wants to put a charge into the ball, but what it did was it allowed him to see the ball a little bit longer. Now his strikeouts have gone down, his walks have gone up, he's gotten himself in some better counts and gotten some better pitches to hit."

Nunez was a sub-.200 hitter as recently as April 16 but has been steadily climbing out of his season-opening slump. Against the Express, he extended his hitting streak to eight games when he belted a solo shot to right field in the fourth inning.
After working a walk in the sixth, Nunez drove a double to left in the seventh for his third multi-hit game during the streak, which has lifted his slash line to .270/.340/.584.
Box score
"He's got power to all fields," Martins said. "He can put one about 450 feet to the pull side. He hit one oppo today into the wind and he's driven a couple the other way. He's hit some to dead center, he's hit some to left-center field. Renato's a special hitter. I still think he has the capability of being not just a power guy but a hitter as well."
All four of Nunez's recent homers have been solo blasts, and he's driven in a run in five straight contests. The 23-year-old drew one walk over the season's first 14 games but has worked nine in nine games since, outpacing his strikeout total (eight) during that span.
"He's still young and he's done it on just talent alone," Martins said. "This, I think for him, is the final phase for his development before he becomes a regular in the big leagues. It's just understanding the strike zone, understanding what the pitchers are trying to do to him, not trying to do too much. He doesn't have to swing hard to get the ball out of the ballpark. I'm really impressed and proud of the way he's taken to it."
Despite the loss, the Sounds had a host of standout offensive performers while matching Round Rock's 10 hits. Top A's prospect Franklin Barreto lashed three singles from the leadoff spot and, one spot behind him in the order, Joey Wendle homered for the second straight game with a solo shot to right in the seventh.

The loss snapped Nashville's five-game winning streak, but Martins said he saw the same signs that his team had shaken off a sluggish start at the plate.
"I think guys were still kind of searching a little bit early and they kind of went away from their plan," he said. "Going back to what I was talking about with Nunez, they started chasing out of the zone. We were swinging early and often. They'd look up at the numbers and see .080 or .120, and it was early in the season where if you go 2-for-3, it's almost back up to .300.
"It was one of those things where you go through those stretches where they're trying to chase the hits instead of work the process and see some pitches and attack the pitches they're trying to hit and not what the pitcher's trying to get them out with. It's an exciting lineup."
Round Rock was paced by Rangers No. 4 prospectRonald Guzmán, who put up his second three-hit performance in four games and fifth of the season. Catcher Brett Nicholas went 3-for-3 and drove in four runs.