Rainer Nuñez

Rainer José Nuñez Puello

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 2", Weight 180 lb.

• Born December 4, 2000 in La Romana, La Romana D.R.

BR Register page

Biographical Information

Rainer Nuñez has played in the minors and for the Dominican national team.

He signed originally with the Toronto Blue Jays. He hit .247/.298/.328 in his pro debut, with the 2018 DSL Blue Jays, fielding .899 at third base. Moving up to the GCL Blue Jays in 2019, slipped to .173/.248/.286 while moving to first base. The 2020 minor league season was wiped out by the COVID-19 pandemic. Returning to action in 2021, he batted .274/.370/.484 with 31 RBI in 35 games for the FCL Blue Jays and .263/.391/.421 in six games for the Dunedin Blue Jays. He tied Amell Brazoban and Rainier Rivas for 7th in the Florida Complex League in doubles (11) and tied Tsung-Che Cheng and Willy Vasquez for 4th in RBI.

In 2022, he played for Dunedin (.299/.328/.482, 15 HR in 93 G) and the Vancouver Canadians (.321/.379/.491 in 28 G). He was 4th in the Florida State League in dingers and 4th with 63 RBI (between Manuel Sequera and Omar De Los Santos). Among Blue Jays farmhands, he tied Nathan Lukes and Damiano Palmegiani for 4th in doubles (25), was 4th in home runs (19, between Palmegiani and Davis Schneider) and 3rd with 82 RBI (behind Addison Barger and Palmegiani). He won the FSL batting title by .021 over runner-up Jase Bowen and was named the FSL All-Star at first base. With the Estrellas Orientales that winter, he hit .263/.303/.445 with 7 homers in 37 games. He won the Dominican Winter League in circuit clouts (two ahead of Ronny Mauricio) and tied Kelvin Gutiérrez for 4th with 20 RBI. He won the Rookie of the Year.

Nuñez split 2023 between Vancouver (.309/.390/.446 in 37 G) and the New Hampshire Fisher Cats (.224/.273/.352 in 78 G0. He was 8th among Toronto minor leaguers in home runs with 13. That winter, he fell to .196/.211/.304 for the Estrellas. Spending all of '24 with New Hampshire, he rebounded to .275/.349/.416 with 12 HR. His 54 RBI tied Peyton Williams for 8th in the Blue Jay system and he was 10th in home runs. He was then the starting first baseman for the Dominicans in the 2024 Premier 12. Hitting cleanup in their opener, he was retired by Cuba's Yoennis Yera his first time up. His first hit was a RBI single off Frank Abel Álvarez. He finished the tourney only 2-for-19 with a double, run and two RBI, handling 36 chances error-free.