Nuñez made impact on Sox

Eduardo Nuñez announced his retirement Thursday and it wasn’t big news. A prospect the Yankees once thought would replace Derek Jeter at shortstop proved to be a career utility player for five teams.

There’s nothing wrong with that. Nuñez played parts of 11 seasons, appeared in 18 playoff games, and always left his teammates and coaches smiling. In all the good ways, “Nunie” was a character.

Nuñez’s career included 225 games for the Red Sox from 2017-2019. He was acquired at the trade deadline in ’17 and gave the Sox a big lift offensively, filling in for Dustin Pedroia at second base.

Nuñez injured his right knee Sept. 9, returned for the playoffs, and had one at-bat before reinjuring his knee and being carried off the field.

Nuñez returned in ’18 and was a helpful backup during the regular season before belting a three-run pinch-hit home run in Game 1 of the World Series.

In the epic 18-inning Game 3, Nuñez got tangled up with Dodgers catcher Austin Barnes in the 13th inning and collapsed to the dirt. With the Sox out of position players, he got back to his feet and produced a ground ball that resulted in a run-scoring throwing error.

Nuñez fell down after he crossed first but stayed in a game the Sox eventually lost.

The drama didn’t matter a few days later when the Sox clinched the Series. Nuñez was plenty healthy for the celebrations that followed.

A few other observations on the Red Sox:

The Sox had 391 innings from rookie pitchers this season, ninth most in the majors. Only two of the teams with more, Baltimore (467„) and Seattle (393), had winning records.

Alex Cora made mention of this after the season, saying the Sox should benefit from those pitchers gaining experience. But it also points to the fact that the Sox leaned too heavily on pitchers lacking experience.

The industry reaction was that the Sox were reaching when they made high school second baseman Nick Yorke the 17 th overall pick of the 2020 draft. He disproved that with an excellent 2021 season, posting a .928 OPS over 97 games at two levels. That dropped to .668 over 80 games this season at High A Greenville as Yorke dealt with injuries. That Yorke has hit .340 with an .911 OPS through 14 games in the Arizona Fall League is a good sign given the high level of competition.

The other positive has been Yorke steadfastly refusing to make excuses for his low numbers this season.