Eduardo Nunez (9) has a new home in San Francisco. Photo Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports
The San Francisco Giants added depth for the stretch run Thursday by acquiring infielder Eduardo Nunez from the Minnesota Twins in exchange for minor league left-hander Adalberto Mejia.
Nunez, Minnesota’s only All-Star this season, was batting .296 with 12 home runs and 47 RBIs in 91 games. The 29-year-old Dominican, who mostly played shortstop, also appeared at second base and third base.
San Francisco second baseman Joe Panik came off the disabled list Thursday and with Brandon Crawford a mainstay at shortstop, Nunez is expected to see action at third base at least until Matt Duffy returns from the DL. Duffy has not played since June 19 because of an Achilles injury, but he ran the bases Thursday.
The Twins’ leadoff hitter since mid-May, Nunez went 0-for-4 with a walk and three strikeouts in his final game with Minnesota on Thursday, a 6-2 win over the Baltimore Orioles. He stole his American League-leading 27th base of the season.
In 65 games atop the Minnesota batting order this year, he hit .298 with a .326 on-base percentage.
Nunez was a utility infielder for the New York Yankees from 2010-13 before spending the past three seasons with the Twins. In 505 career games, he has a .274 batting average, a .312 on-base percentage, a .401 slugging percentage, 30 homers and 167 RBIs.
Mejia, a 23-year-old Dominican, was 7-3 with a 2.81 in 18 starts with Triple-A Sacramento and Double-A Richmond this season. He is 41-27 with a 3.27 ERA in 112 minor league games (92 starts) after being signed as an international free agent in 2011.
