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*** One of the main projects for hitting coach Edgar Martinez is to work with catcher Mike Zunino to try and find him some consistency and contact at the plate. Martinez is still developing a relationship and trust with Zunino along with the other hitters on the team.
“I think he’s trying to speed up the process as much as he possible he can,” McClendon said. “In the end, my hope is that he does have a major influence on Zunino and does make him a project and get back to somewhat close to what he was last year.”
Last year? Zunino hit just .199 last season with a .254 on-base percentage but did have 22 homers. It’s a testament to how much he’s scuffling if the Mariners hope he can get back to that point.
It’s been a massive struggle for Zunino this season. After an awful April, Zunino was a little more productive in May, but he’s fallen off a cliff in June, hitting .073 with four singles and no extra base hits to go with 26 strikeouts in 66 at-bats.
“We thought he was coming out of it,” McClendon said. “Now he’s regressed back.”
The cause of the problem is due to multiple aspects.
There is the mental side.
“For me, I think it’s mental and I think it’s been mental for a while,” McClendon said. “We don’t put much credence in spring training. But I do put some importance on some ability to make contact and he made consistent contact in spring training and drove the ball to all fields. I don’t see why he shouldn’t be able to do that again.”
But there is also the mechanical failures.
“The hands are dropping, the front shoulder is coming out and off the ball,” McClendon said. “When you are working underneath the ball, you are going to have a lot of swings and misses. And you aren’t going to recognize a lot of pitches that may be borderline or maybe in the strike zone because your head starts moving and your eyes start to rotate.”
From Baseball Savant, pitchers are attacking Zunino away and low away (Catcher’s view). The mechanical flaws just don’t allow him to recognize or hit those pitches.
“You don’t have coverage on those pitches and the bat is in and out of the strike zone,” McClendon said.
Can Edgar fix Zunino? That’s the hope. And the Mariners are stuck with him as the every day catcher for now. With Welington Castillo gone, neither John Hicks or Steve Baron could handle the big league level as an every day player. It would be prudent of Jack Zduriencik to start looking to acquire another catcher with some big league experience though.
Matchups
“I think he’s trying to speed up the process as much as he possible he can,” McClendon said. “In the end, my hope is that he does have a major influence on Zunino and does make him a project and get back to somewhat close to what he was last year.”
Last year? Zunino hit just .199 last season with a .254 on-base percentage but did have 22 homers. It’s a testament to how much he’s scuffling if the Mariners hope he can get back to that point.
It’s been a massive struggle for Zunino this season. After an awful April, Zunino was a little more productive in May, but he’s fallen off a cliff in June, hitting .073 with four singles and no extra base hits to go with 26 strikeouts in 66 at-bats.
“We thought he was coming out of it,” McClendon said. “Now he’s regressed back.”
The cause of the problem is due to multiple aspects.
There is the mental side.
“For me, I think it’s mental and I think it’s been mental for a while,” McClendon said. “We don’t put much credence in spring training. But I do put some importance on some ability to make contact and he made consistent contact in spring training and drove the ball to all fields. I don’t see why he shouldn’t be able to do that again.”
But there is also the mechanical failures.
“The hands are dropping, the front shoulder is coming out and off the ball,” McClendon said. “When you are working underneath the ball, you are going to have a lot of swings and misses. And you aren’t going to recognize a lot of pitches that may be borderline or maybe in the strike zone because your head starts moving and your eyes start to rotate.”
From Baseball Savant, pitchers are attacking Zunino away and low away (Catcher’s view). The mechanical flaws just don’t allow him to recognize or hit those pitches.
“You don’t have coverage on those pitches and the bat is in and out of the strike zone,” McClendon said.
Can Edgar fix Zunino? That’s the hope. And the Mariners are stuck with him as the every day catcher for now. With Welington Castillo gone, neither John Hicks or Steve Baron could handle the big league level as an every day player. It would be prudent of Jack Zduriencik to start looking to acquire another catcher with some big league experience though.
Matchups
