Cuban Pitcher Gets the Call From Arizona

Vladimir Nunez, one of two pitchers who signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks nearly 2 1/2 years ago after defecting from the Cuban National B Team, reached the major leagues on Monday.

The Diamondbacks purchased Nunez’s contract from Tucson of the triple-A Pacific Coast League and added him to their major league roster.

Nunez, 23, and Larry Rodriguez defected from Cuba during a trip to Venezuela in October 1995.

By obtaining permission to play in the Dominican Republic, where Nunez now lives, they were able to sidestep the amateur draft and become free agents. Both signed with Arizona in February 1996.

The Diamondbacks chose Nunez as the organization’s pitcher of the year in 1996, when he was 10-0 with a 2.22 earned-run average for Lethbridge of the rookie Pioneer League.

Last year, he set a franchise record for High Desert of the Class-A California League with 142 strikeouts. He was 8-5 with a 5.17 ERA and only 40 walks in 158 1/3 innings for High Desert.

This year, he was 4-4 with a 4.91 ERA for Tucson, working as both a starter and reliever.

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Jorge Luis Toca, a former member of the Cuban national team who played alongside several future major leaguers before leaving his country, agreed to a minor-league contract with the New York Mets.

Toca, a 23-year-old first baseman, fled Cuba by boat on March 20 and landed in the Bahamas. He then went to Japan, where his wife has citizenship, and came to the United States on a tourist visa.

“We feel very privileged to add a player of this caliber to our organization,” Met General Manager Steve Phillips said. “We think that Jorge is an excellent young power hitter.”

Toca, who last played in Cuba in April 1997, played with Florida Marlin pitcher Livan Hernandez and New York Yankee pitcher Orlando “El Duque” Hernandez. He was a boyhood teammate of Met shortstop Rey Ordonez.

Toca will join the Mets’ Instructional League team in Port St. Lucie, Fla., later this week. Phillips said he hoped to find a winter baseball assignment for him.

Toca, a right-handed power hitter who said he hit 35 homers in 1995, worked out with the Mets on their recent trip to Los Angeles. He took batting practice with the Mets on Monday.

Toca began playing with Ordonez on a junior national team when he was 12.

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Bernard Gilkey, the outfielder acquired by the Diamondbacks in a trade with the Mets five weeks ago, is experiencing vision problems and says he might undergo eye surgery before the season is over.

Gilkey hasn’t played since having his pupils dilated and eyes tested Friday.

He is batting .233 this season and has only one extra-base hit in 27 games with Arizona. He refuses to blame his hitting woes on deteriorating vision.

“I’ve always been about 20/30,” he said. “I think it’s time I go ahead and correct it.”

Gilkey has contact lenses, but rarely wears them, and never in games. He was hit in the head by a pitch on July 12, and for awhile occasionally saw flashes in his left eye.

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After being removed in the seventh inning of Sunday’s game against the Boston Red Sox, pitcher Chris Carpenter of the Toronto Blue Jays kicked a garbage can and slightly sprained his right ankle. He expects to make his next start.