Nunez slugs way into outright homer lead

When Renato Núñez's swing looks as good as it has recently for the Triple-A Sounds, the Venezuela native reminds his hitting coach of a legend whose hometown is 30 miles away from Valencia.
Oakland's No. 17 prospect bashed homers in his first two at-bats and added a single, driving in a season-high five runs as Nashville held on to beat Colorado Springs, 11-7.

"I've seen him go through these stretches where it's as close to a -- you know, I hate to put names on people -- but it's as close to a Miguel Cabrera as you can see," Sounds hitting coach Eric Martins said of the Tigers slugger from Maracay. "He's driving balls, hitting bullets to the right side. Yesterday, he hit a triple down the right-field line on a fastball away. He just shortened up and smoked it to right field and got a triple out of it. That's the ability that he has, not only for his power, but as a hitter as well."

Nunez's second consecutive three-hit night got started with a two-run blast to left field in the top of the first inning off Paolo Espino and continued with another two-run shot to left-center off the righty in the third, his sixth extra-base hit in his last four games.
"That's the maturity part that's coming in with Renato now," Martins said. "Every time I talk about Nunez, I tell people left and right, he has a chance to be not just a power guy. He has a chance to be a .280 (average) guy who's going to hit 30 home runs and be a run producer and be feared in the lineup. The thing with him is just pitch selection, not trying to do too much, having a good approach, seeing some pitches."
Martins singled out Nunez's third at-bat for praise. After going yard in his first two, the 23-year-old bounced a run-scoring groundout to short in the fifth, content to nab the RBI without a hit.
"Sometimes he'll go through a day and see 23 pitches, but he'll swing at 15 of them," his coach said. "It's just a matter of which pitches he wants to swing at, having a good at-bat, having a good approach, studying pitchers and knowing what they're trying to do to him. He's been pretty consistent this year. He's gone through a little bit of a funk, but he's been able to get himself out of it. He knows how to get himself out of it now."

The Athletics have called up a host of prospects from the Sounds in recent weeks, and though he made big league debut last September, Nunez has not been one of them yet. Seeing teammates such as Franklin Barreto, Jaycob Brugman and Matt Chapman at the next level has served as motivation for the infielder.
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"It affected him a little bit at some point, but not too much," Martins said. "He's played with these guys for a long time, and Renato's such a good kid and such a good teammate. Those guys were part of teams that he played for the last few years, so he was happy for those guys. He's excited about those guys, but at the same time, it is pushing him."
Nunez's progression has been noticeable from month to month this season. After batting .238 in 21 April games, he hit .239 in 25 contests in May. That led to a .267 average through 28 games last month, and in his first week of games in July, the 23-year-old is hitting .391/.440/.957 with three homers and nine RBIs.

"He's been able to adjust and that's the good thing about him," Martins said. "When he went through his funk, he was starting to chase some balls on the inner half and balls that he was probably expanding the zone on the inner half for. When he can take that ball down the middle and drive it to right-center field and be the hitter that he can be, I've seen him in stretches where it's unbelievable."
Without some of the biggest names he started the season with on Nashville's roster, Nunez is now the lynchpin of the Sounds lineup, a role he's embraced.
"He likes it," Martins said. "He thrives in those situations, and he really approaches it that way. He's smart, and he knows when they're going to try to pitch around him. He knows when they're going to attack him. No matter how he's doing, he's going to be feared in that lineup. He could be on an 0-for-26 stretch, but people are still going to be scared of him. That's the kind of ability that he has."