After rocky times in minors, Yankees' Nunez on 'right' path

Eduardo Nunez didn't always believe he was going to be the Yankees player who filled in so well for Derek Jeter and is being asked to do the same for Alex Rodriguez.

In 2006, Nunez was a struggling Single-A switch-hitter for Tampa (Florida State League) and Charleston (South Atlantic League) and wanted to go home to the Dominican Republic.

On each occasion the Yankees' player development staff talked him off the ledge.

"It wasn't so much that we talked him out of going home, it was that we kept reminding him how good of a player he was going to be," said Mark Newman, senior vice president of baseball operations. "He was struggling as a switch hitter. At one point he wanted to be a pitcher."

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Nunez combined to hit .214 in 127 games in 2006 and took the Yankees' suggestion that he hit right-handed only.

Hitting right-handed in 2007 he combined to hit .251 for Charleston and Tampa, and as he started to climb the organizational ladder, Nunez began to demonstrate the swing that impacts baseballs and he also impressed with his live body.

He hit .271 in 94 games for Tampa in 2008. The next year at Double-A Trenton Nunez batted .322 in 122 games. Last season -- in 118 games for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre --Nunez batted .289.

In 17 games filling in for Jeter from June 14 to July 2, Nunez batted .339 (20-for-59).

Now, Rodriguez is expected to miss six to eight weeks after undergoing right knee surgery on Monday, and the Yankees are again turning to the 24-year-old instead of acquiring a stop-gap third baseman.

This time he is going to play a position he isn't as experienced as he is at shortstop, and his team-leading 10 errors are an issue.

Nevertheless, because Rodriguez hadn't homered in a career-high 85 at-bats, the Yankees won't be looking for power from Nunez.

Overall, he is batting .279 with three homers and 14 RBIs in 122 at-bats.

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When the Yankees open a four-game series tonight against the Blue Jays at Rogers Centre, their pitchers will be looking to extend an impressive streak.

In the last five games Yankees pitchers have held hitters to a .122 (6-for-49) average with runners in scoring position.

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Slade Heathcott, the Yankees' first-round pick in the 2009 draft, doesn't need left shoulder surgery.

Heathcott hasn't played since June 29, when he was promoted from Low-A Charleston to High-A Tampa, because of a shoulder problem. It was feared the left-handed throwing outfielder would require surgery.

Rest and exercise has been prescribed, which means Heathcott is going to be sidelined for a while. He had a left labrum problem repaired after last season.

He batted .271 with four homers and 16 RBIs for Charleston.

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Left-handed reliever Pedro Feliciano started a light throwing program yesterday in Tampa. Feliciano, who hasn't appeared in a game this season because of a rotator cuff strain, was shut down last week.

Fellow lefty reliever Damaso Marte threw off a bullpen mound. He hasn't pitched this year either because of his left shoulder surgery.

Left-hander J.C. Romero, who recently signed a minor league deal with the Nationals, reportedly has an opt out in his contract if he's not promoted to the majors by tomorrow. Romero, 35, could fill a role in the Yankees' bullpen.

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After missing three months because of a strained right groin, Mark Prior worked two innings yesterday in a Gulf Coast League game. It was Prior's first outing since April 18 at Scranton/Wilkes-Barre when he suffered the injury. The former Cubs stud threw 24 pitches and was caught on the speed guns at 90 mph.