Vladimir Nunez #36

Vladimir Nunez Zarabaza...married to Gissia...has one son and two daughters from a previous marriage...while with the Marlins, he made regular appearances within the South Florida Hispanic community...also served as a spokesman for the state of Florida's adult and literacy campaign, Alfabetizacion Adulta en tu biblioteca, which targets Floridians who speak English as a second language...is also a participant in Adopt-a-Classroom...NuC1ez defected from the Cuban National B Team in October of 1995 and signed his first professional deal the following February with Arizona...signed by Junior Naboa.

2003

Began the season on Florida's Opening Day roster and pitched in 14 games with the Marlins, posting a 16.03 ERA (10.2 ip/19 er)...it was feast-or-famine for the righty, holding opponents scoreless in half of his outings, but allowing at least 2-plus runs in the other half...in the seven games he allowed runs in, Vladimir had a 28.50 ERA (6.0 ip/19 er)...was optioned to AAA-Albuquerque April 25, recalled by the Marlins June 5 then again optioned to Albuquerque June 10 where he would stay the remainder of the year.

2002

Spent the entire season with Florida, converting a team-high 20 saves in 28 opportunities...pitched in a personal best 77 games, tossing 97.2 innings, the second-highest total of his career (108.2 in 1999)...started the year with a career-long 4-game win streak, spanning his first 18 outings from April 2-May 10...converted his first save as a Marlin on April 11 vs. Montreal, only the second save of his ML career (June 9, 1999 vs. Cubs)...when put into save situations, NuC1ez notched a 2.65 ERA in the 28 games...held lefties to a .191 average against for the year.

2001

Ranked seventh among NL relievers with a career-best 2.74 ERA...also made three starts, April 10-22, compiling a 4.08 ERA (17.2 ip, 8 er)...was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a right quad strain July 19...activated from the DL on Aug. 3 after being returned from his rehab assignment on Aug. 1.

2000

The Marlins' No. 3 starter out of the gate, Vladimir was 0-6 with a 8.35 ERA in 12 starts before being optioned to Triple-A Calgary June 5...recalled Sept. 5 from Calgary and made five relief appearances, allowing 4 runs in 8.0 innings (4.50)...became the ninth pitcher in Florida's history to homer, a two-run shot off Matt Clement on May 2 at San Diego.

1999

Was traded to Florida July 9 after opening the season with Arizona...combined to go 7-10 in 44 games (12 starts) with the D'Backs and Marlins...ranked sixth among NL rookie pitchers in wins, innings pitched (108.2) and strikeouts (86) and seventh in games...earned his first ML win June 13 at Anaheim and his first ML save June 9 vs. the Cubs...also started his first ML game July 26 at Philadelphia, a 9-1 loss.

1998

Made his major league debut Sept. 11 at Cincinnati, tossing 1.1 innings in relief...with the appearance, he technically became Arizona's first original player to ever appear in a major league game.

1997

Struckout 142 batters for High Desert, the most ever for a High Desert hurler (since broken by Brad Penny in 1998 with 207 K's)...also ranked as the third most K's in the Cal League in 1997.

1996

Named D'Backs' Organizational Pitcher of the Year, as well as Baseball America's short-season Player of the Year...earned the Pioneer League "Star of Stars" honor by Howe Sportsdata and was the right-handed hurler on Topps/NAPBL short-season All-Star team...went 10-0 with a 2.22 ERA in 14 games (13 starts) for Lethbridge, leading the league in wins, ERA and strikeouts (93).