WASHINGTON -- Anyone around the Nationals when Nasim Nuñez is in the Majors will tell you, he is an entity unto himself.
Earlier this season, Nuñez endeared himself to some when he dropped the phrase “aura farming” in an on-field interview. Shortly after, he also said the team had known it needed to “pop their [expletive]” in a separate on-field interview.
His energy is infectious, described by starter Mitchell Parker as a “little bundle of joy.” Nuñez knows who he is, he knows what he can do, and he isn’t intimidated by any of the naysayers -- he cares less about proving them wrong than he does about proving himself right.
So it was no surprise that, for the second time this season, Nuñez was at the center of a game that set the tone for an entire series.
Nuñez became the sixth player in Nationals/Expos history to hit his first two MLB homers in the same game, joining his teammate Brady House (July 12). No Nat had done so since Tyler Moore in 2012.
Nuñez’s two long balls paved the way for Washington’s 10-5 finale win over Miami to cement its first sweep at home this season. And of course, he didn’t disappoint in his on-field interview postgame, exclaiming, “Man! Them boys trying to get me electrocuted!” when his teammates dumped not one, but two water coolers on him while wearing a headset.
Ask any of his teammates, even his skipper, and they’ll tell you that Nuñez always brings the energy. The power? Well, interim manager Miguel Cairo wasn’t expecting that from his 5-foot-8 infielder.
“He brings energy, he brings passion, and he brings excitement,” Cairo said. “I love the way he plays the game, and he can change the game -- on the bases and defense -- and he's exciting. … “When you have someone, they play the game the way he plays it, it brings passion. It brings energy. It brings stuff that you need on a team.”
What about the power? Did Cairo know it was there?
“No,” Cairo said, shaking his head and smiling.
House, however, knew it was just a matter of time -- the day prior Nuñez had been demolishing pitches in batting practice, with seemingly “every other pitch” nearly landing in the second deck, according to House.
It was the second of Nuñez’s career games this year, after he tallied four hits on May 16 to lead the Nats to a win in Baltimore to open their first series sweep of the year -- and, entering Wednesday, their only sweep.
But, facing the team he began his career with, and which left him unprotected ahead of the 2023 Rule 5 Draft -- in which the Nationals acquired him -- Nuñez blew that start out of the water. It might just be recency bias, though.
“It's up there, to be honest, like this one feels really good,” Nuñez said. “I see the comments. I see the things people say, ‘[he] can't hit,’ and even for myself -- it's not about proving everybody else [wrong], it’s about proving myself right. So I really proved myself right. Like, I have to be the one to believe that I could hit. So when you go out there and see it, it gives you a little bit more belief.
“... Honestly, [these big games] all feel the same, but this one's going to feel better because it's more recent.”
Nuñez hit both home runs via his left-handed swing -- something the switch-hitter had wanted to give up before the Rochester and Nationals staff had told him otherwise.
“I had a lot of work to do on my left-handed swing,” Nuñez said. “There was a time where I felt, in Rochester, like I wasn't going to hit left no more. I didn't want to do it. And a couple people told me, like, ‘Just keep going. Don’t throw in the towel, just go full send. Like, really, go do it.’ So the last month, in August -- it's worked, so it's good to see.”
The first homer came almost immediately. With Washington already ahead, 3-0, after the first inning, Nuñez stepped to the plate with one out in the second inning. Hitting ninth in his first game since he was called up on Monday, he proceeded to send the ball soaring into the Nationals’ bullpen in right field.
“I was honestly happy because I was just glad it went over the fence, because I pimped it a little bit,” Nuñez said. “So I was a little scared when I saw the ball, like in the outfield, I was like, ‘Oh no.’ But off the bat, I knew it. Second time? I knew it too. But then it happens again, where you start looking at the ball, you're like, ‘Please go.’”
House followed Nuñez’s lead in the fourth, as he crushed his third homer of the year, the first since those two homers on July 12. House's two-run homer handed Washington a 7-0 lead and some much needed insurance as the Marlins found their footing and drove in four runs in the fifth inning.
Six innings later, Nuñez sent another ball into the bullpen -- this time an opposite-field blast into the visiting bullpen in left field. His first home run, AND his first multihomer game, all wrapped into one, securing his place in Nationals history. Not too shabby.