The Pittsburgh Pirates today selected infielder Gustavo Nunez off the Detroit Tigers’ Triple-A Toledo roster with the eighth pick in the annual Rule 5 Draft. The announcement was made by Pirates Senior Vice President, General Manager Neal Huntington.
The 23-year-old Nunez hit .276 (105-for-381) with 13 doubles, seven triples, five home runs, 26 RBI and 18 stolen bases in 96 minor league games in 2011 between High-A Lakeland and Double-A Erie.
Before being promoted to Double-A last season, the switch-hitting Nunez was named to the Florida State League mid-season All-Star team. In 62 games with Lakeland last season, he hit .304.
Nunez made his professional debut as a 19-year-old with Detroit’s Dominican Summer League entry in 2007. He swiped a career-high 48 bases and tallied a career-high 150 hits in 2009 while batting a combined .309 in 118 games with Class-A West Michigan (112 games) and the GCL Tigers (six games).
In his five minor league seasons, Nunez has produced a .266 batting average, a .320 OBP, 110 stolen bases, 59 doubles, 26 triples and 13 home runs in 464 games. In that time, he has made 434 appearances at shortstop and 22 at second base.