With solid finish, is Renato Núñez making a case for a 2019 roster spot?

Orioles third baseman Renato Núñez has been given the chance to play every day by the rebuilding Orioles. and he's taken advantage of the best opportunity of his young career.

The 24-year-old from Venezuela got 15 plate appearances with Oakland in 2016 and 16 last year. Earlier this season, he got 41 plate appearances with Texas before he was designated for assignment and claimed on waivers by the Orioles. This year with Baltimore, he's gotten 206 plate appearances.

With the final series of the year beginning tonight, Núñez has hit .275/.330/.450 in 56 games. Over his past five games he is 9-for-19 with three homers and seven RBIs.

"Just been putting in a lot of work," Núñez said about his strong finish to the season. "Every day we're here working with the coaches on both my defense and my hitting."

Núñez has hit better each month as an Oriole, batting .174 in July, .268 in August .319/.328/.580 with five homers, 10 RBIs and an OPS of .904 in September.

The Orioles are the first organization to give him this big of an opportunity.

"It's the first time in my career I've been playing every day," he said. "It's amazing to be on an MLB team and part of the Orioles. To be playing every day is amazing. That always helps, every player would say, when you play every day, as you get chances to make adjustments. This game is about adjustments and when you play every day, you also get to know the pitchers better and that is also a big help."

Perhaps Núñez is planting a seed right now and trying to get a jump on earning a job on the 2019 Orioles.

"I'm just here playing every day and when I get the chance to play I'll go 100 percent," he said. "I like this team and I love it here. It would be great to be here next year."

Núñez feels his biggest improvement as an Oriole has come in the field. He's put in the time pregame with infield instructor Bobby Dickerson and has just two errors in his past 30 games.

"It's got to be defense," Núñez said when asked where he improved the most. "I've been working a lot with Bobby and he really tells me a lot of good things. Some things I haven't learned throughout my career. That was the biggest thing for me this year, getting better on defense. He and I work a lot and have fun and I really appreciate his help."

For Núñez, maybe the third time is the charm. Maybe he's found a home with his third major league team. He's excited about possibly of being part of the rebuilding O's.

"It's about growing and getting better. We've been playing better and I think we've got a great group of young guys here," he said.