Perhaps more than any other team in baseball, the Los Angeles Dodgers utilize their depth throughout the course of a 162-game season.
Every offseason and even during the regular season, the Dodgers make a handful of Minor League signings to add to that depth in case Major League players, particularly on the pitching staff, go down with injuries.
The 2019 season is already underway, but that doesn’t mean that the front office is done making moves. According to Robert Murray of The Athletic, they have signed left-handed pitcher Chris Nunn to a Minor League contract:
#Dodgers signing left-handed pitcher Chris Nunn to a minor-league deal, source tells The Athletic.
— Robert Murray (@ByRobertMurray) April 17, 2019
Nunn’s story is an interesting one as he finished the 2018 playing in an independent league after being released by three different organizations in the last three years.
A video of him touching 99 mph in a bullpen session went viral this past winter, earning himself a Spring Training invitation from the Texas Rangers. Nunn was released by the Rangers before the start of the regular season though and is now catching on again with the Dodgers.
The 28-year-old spent most of the 2018 season with the St. Paul Saints, where he pitched to a 3.05 ERA and 1.22 WHIP in 59 innings (11 starts) with 49 strikeouts and 13 walks.
He also pitched in 15 games in Double-A and Triple-A in the Houston Astros organizations and yielded a 4.94 ERA and 1.54 WHIP with 32 strikeouts and 14 walks in 27.1 innings.
With Tony Cingrani beginning the season on the 10-day injured list with a shoulder injury and the organization uncertain of how he will look upon returning, Nunn provides them insurance and depth from the left side if Cingrani ends up missing a significant chunk of the season.
