Mike

Zunino

Zunino was selected third overall by the Mariners in the 2012 MLB Draft out of Florida University and wound up splitting the first decade of his career between Seattle and Tampa Bay before spending his final year in Cleveland. He hangs up his spikes and catching gear after posting a lifetime .199 batting average with 149 homers across 3,098 plate appearances since 2013.

Zunino passed through waivers unclaimed and has been cut loose by the Guardians after being designated for assignment last week. The 32-year-old catcher finished with a disastrous .578 OPS across 42 games for Cleveland after signing a one-year, $6 million contract last offseason.

The Guardians needed to free up a spot on their 40-man roster for Touki Toussaint to start on Friday and Zunino became the odd-man out. The 32-year-old backstop has struggled mightily in his time with the Guardians this season – slashing a woeful .177/.271/.306 with three homers, 11 RBI and a 61/15 K/BB ratio over 140 plate appearances. He could attract interest on waivers from a team starving for catching depth.

It was just his second hit in 31 at-bats this month. Zunino has been a liability both offensively and defensively this season, but the Guardians made it clear they’re not ready to give up on him when they didn’t even give 27th man Bo Naylor a start in Sunday’s doubleheader before returning him to Triple-A.

Zunino missed two games with a stiff neck but returns to the lineup on Sunday. The 32-year-old is hitting .179/.297/.346 with an atrocious 44 percent strikeout rate. Bo Naylor is hitting very well in Triple-A but is still refining his skills behind the plate, but if Zunino continues to be unproductive at the plate, the Guardians might be forced to make a change.

Cleveland doesn’t want to take any chances after Zunino was scratched from Friday’s lineup due to neck stiffness, so he’s getting some additional time off to rest. It’ll be Cam Gallagher handling the catching duties once again on Saturday evening in his place.

It doesn’t sound like a major concern, but Cleveland doesn’t want to take any chances with their starting catcher. It’ll be Cam Gallagher catching rookie Logan Allen instead on Friday evening.

Zunino is 0-for-17 with 12 strikeouts this month. He opened the season by hitting .313 in his first 11 games, but he’s at .093 since. The Guardians still want Bo Naylor to improve defensively before turning to him behind the plate, but they will eventually need to give him a chance.

Zunino reached base safely in all four of his plate appearances and also delivered a game-tying RBI double down the left-field line against righty Domingo Germán in the fourth inning. The 32-year-old backstop is hitting .320 (8-for-25) with one homer and four RBI through eight games in his Guardians debut.

Zunino got the Guardians on the board with his 378-foot three-run blast off of left-hander Marco Gonzales in the second inning. He also doubled twice and scored a pair of runs in the contest, finishing the day 3-for-3. The 31-year-old is off to a terrific start with his new ballclub, hitting .444 (4-for-9) with a homer and three RBI.