Bye Bye Bye Bye Mike Zunino
Believe it, Cleveland! Savor it! Soak it in! The Guardians have finally DFA’d catcher Mike Zunino and it frankly is about time that this move was made by the front office.
Zunino, age 32, in 124 ABs on the year only had three home runs, 11 RBIs and an absolutely terrible .177 batting average.
The catcher has played for 11 seasons. Six with the Seattle Mariners (’13-’18), four with the Tampa Bay Rays (’19-’22) and this one with Cleveland. Now, Zunino’s hit his best average-wise in the 2017 season at a .251 mark. He hit 33 home runs in the 2021 season along with 61 RBI for a formidable season for you.
For his career, his average is a measly .199. Thus, it’s not as if he were some Hall of Famer beforehand…
Zunino signed with the Guardians on a one-year deal this past off-season for six million dollars. What a waste of money. The team was hoping to get those numbers from the 2021 season. Obviously, it was far from that hence this move made by the club.
Well, it looks like catcher Bo Naylor will finally be called up to the big league team for good and get his opportunity to prove himself in a Guardians uniform. This is exciting!
The catcher is obviously one of the most important positions on a baseball team. I harken back to the days of Victor Martinez or Sandy Alomar Jr. and laugh at the notion that the club had a player as terrible as Zunino behind the plate for the Guardians throughout the majority of the year.
The Guards have a record of 32-36 and sit only 2.5 games behind Minnesota and in second place in the AL Central going 6-4 in their last 10 games. There’s still hope despite a season that hasn’t been so great thus far. That’s what’s so incredible about the current situation is that the opportunity is still there for this current team to make a run at the playoffs.
Final Note: Of the 36 catchers in the Majors who had at least 100 plate appearances entering Saturday’s game, Zunino ranked 36th in strikeout rate (43.3%), 32nd in average (.186, which dropped to .182 after an 0-for-3 night), 31st in RBIs (11), 28th in slugging percentage (.322), 28th in homers (3) and 27th in wRC+ (72). Absolutely pathetic.
So long, farewell, Mike Zunino.
Thanks for nothing, honestly.
Best of luck with your future endeavors if any other team is crazy enough to sign you after seeing how bad you were for the Guardians throughout this year…
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