Malcom Nuñez

Malcom Yaniel Nuñez

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 205 lb.

• Born March 9, 2001 in Havana Cuba

BR register page

Biographical Information

Malcom Nuñez has played as high as AAA and has been on the Cuban national team.

He hit a whopping .613/.683/.677 in the 2016 U15 Baseball World Cup, going 7-for-7 in steal attempts and handling 20 chances error-free at the hot corner. He won the batting title, was second in OBP and 5th in slugging, led with 19 hits and was one steal behind leader Anthony Volpe. He was named the event's All-Star third baseman, though the MVP went to teammate Loidel Chapellí Jr. His baseball idol as a kid was Alfredo Despaigne, who would be his teammate in the 2026 World Baseball Classic. Becoming an international free agent, he signed with the St. Louis Cardinals.

Nuñez had an awesome pro debut with the 2018 DSL Cardinals Blue, producing at a .415/.497/.774 clip with 44 runs, 13 homers and 59 RBI in 44 games, while fielding a crisp .988 at third base. He won the Dominican Summer League batting title (.056 ahead of Joerlin De Los Santos), led in OBP (.030 ahead of Yolki Pena), led in slugging (.139 ahead of Heriberto Hernández), obviously led in OPS (172 ahead of Hernández), led in homers (one ahead of Hernández) and led in RBI (3 ahead of Victor Heredia). He was named the DSL MVP after the big Triple Crown year. He struggled in coming stateside in 2019, split between the Johnson City Cardinals (.254/.336/.385 in 37 G) and Peoria Chiefs (.183/.247/.197 in 21 G). He fielded .874 between the stops, a far cry from a year prior. The 2020 minor league season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Rebounding somewhat in 2021, he played for Peoria (.285/.351/.453 in 35 G) and the Springfield Cardinals (.257/.330/.371 in 54 G). He was pretty young for both levels and was looking again like a potential prospect. With Springfield in 2022, he started off well (.255/.360/.463, 17 HR, 66 RBI in 85 G) then was packaged with fellow Cuban native Johan Oviedo in a deal for two more proven major leaguers, José Quintana and Chris Stratton, going to the Pittsburgh Pirates. He hit .286/.381/.476 in 29 games for the Altoona Curve and .231/.412/.462 in 5 games for the AAA Indianapolis Indians, still only 21 years old. He had 23 homers and 88 RBI for the year. Despite being dealt away with over a month left, he tied Paul DeJong for 6th in the Cards chain in dingers and tied Luken Baker for 6th in RBI.

Injuries then began playing havoc with his career. He got into 67 games for Indianapolis in 2023 (.237/.314/.357) and played 11 games in lower classifications on rehab stints. The corner infielder was healthy in 2024 but his .250/.310/.365 slash line with 11 homers for the Indians were not what Pittsburgh had been hoping for. He did pace the 2024 IL with 12 sacrifice flies, 3 ahead of DaShawn Keirsey Jr. He also led Bucco farmhands in that department (4 over Liover Peguero) and his 65 RBI were 4th (between Matt Gorski and Charles McAdoo). He tied Jake Gelof for 2nd in the minors in sac flies, two shy of Luis Suisbel. He hit better for Indianapolis in 2025 (.283/.335/.428, 16 2B in 45 G), again battling injuries, with a couple short rehab stints.

Now a free agent, he played for Cuba in the 2026 World Baseball Classic. With Yoán Moncada holding down third base, he got into one game, batting for Yiddi Cappe in the 9th inning of their 7-2 loss to Team Canada. He struck out on a full count from James Paxton, one of 13 Cuban strikeouts that day.

Notable Achievements

• 2018 MVP Dominican Summer League DSL Cardinals Blue