Zunino Is Regressing

[PolarVortex]

So painful to watch him at the plate. He does not have the slightest fucking clue.

It's was almost criminal of Jack Z to go into the regular season and not have a contingency plan at catcher. I'm so fucking tired of hearing people say, "but, but, but he frames pitches so well!" Yeah, you know what? Fuck that shit. His pitch framing skill is not important enough to cancel out his .160 batting average and 47,982,477 runners left on base.

He needs about two solid months in triple A. But, we can't send him down because Dipshit didn't plan for having a replacement. It doesn't matter how bad he sucks, he knows he has a starting job so there is no pressure on him to improve. Hell, forget his shitty offense for a minute. What happens if he gets hurt, Mr Dipshit? Then what? It's not like catchers don't get hurt.

 

[SeattleCoug]

I've said it a few times now. The mistake was made in 2013. They traded away Jaso for Morse (OBP for Power typical Jack Z) and left themselves with Montero and Kelly Shoppach for catching options that season. I'm not saying Jaso was an awesome catcher but he was arguably the most consistent hitter in 2012 (low bar yes) and was at least a hedge who was under cheap club control. We knew Montero wasn't going to last as an everyday catcher and Shoppach was garbage so they had to rush Zunino through the minors in 12 months. We are very fortunate that his defense has been this good but I fear his offense is permantly damaged.

I'll save my Jack Z rant for a little later in the year because I know there will be a time for it. Maybe very soon.

 

[cezero]

Not sure what's out there free agent wise or trade wise that would make much of a difference.

Catcher is typically one of the worst hitting positions, and even with his numbers right now, he's still a positive WAR catcher.

With the myriad problems this team has, I'd put Zunino pretty low on the list.

 

[blstoker]

I'm not concerned about Zunino's bat. I really am not. Everyone knows that Zunino isn't the greatest bat out there, but the real question is why is Zunino batting higher than 8th? Actually, 8th sounds about right. He is hitting .129 when batting 7th (.166 for his career) - batting 8th he's at least at .219 (.226 career). Not great in 8th, but much better than 7th.

Hell, Zunino strikes out 50% of the time when hitting 7th this season. Put him 8th - I don't care if Ackley has been hitting 8th, Zunino should never hit higher than that spot. I bring up 7th spot because it's by far his worst split (this season and career) and he's been inserted into that spot more than any other this season.

Maybe they should look at him as the lead off, as he has a .429 average leading off the inning with 3 home runs (14 ABs).

 

[wazzu31]

Isn't Dan Wilson still semi apart of the organization? I wonder if giving him a spot on the coaching staff just to work with him would be helpful since Zunino really doesn't have anyone to mentor him with keeping the importance of catching along with the approach at being a big league hitter, that problem falls on Jack.

I don't think Zunino is damaged he just needs guidance on how to professionally juggle both which is where a manager like Wedge would've benefited him IMO.

 

[seattlefan75]

at this rate zunino is going to end up like ackley he was rushed into the majors way to fast IMO, looking back trading away jaso was really bad and like the poster said how can Jack not have another plan for the catcher position

 

[NWinAZ]

2015 MLB Team Batting Stats - Major League Baseball - ESPN

Team stats for catching position. Interesting stat for me is that AL team batting average for catchers is .215 vs NL at .256.

 

[blstoker]

2015 MLB Team Batting Stats - Major League Baseball - ESPN

Team stats for catching position. Interesting stat for me is that AL team batting average for catchers is .215 vs NL at .256.

I would say that in the AL they move their best hitting catchers from C to 1B or DH to keep them healthy and in the line up more, but adding players who have made that move (like Victor Martinez, Joe Mauer and Mike Napoli) back into the catcher numbers really doesn't improve the catcher's overall offensive output.

 

[wazzu31]

2015 MLB Team Batting Stats - Major League Baseball - ESPN

Team stats for catching position. Interesting stat for me is that AL team batting average for catchers is .215 vs NL at .256.

That's not really fair to the AL, Zunino is bringing that average down quite a bit.

 

[blstoker]

That's not really fair to the AL, Zunino is bringing that average down quite a bit.

To be fair, It could be a lot worse than Zunino is right now (I just wish he'd strike out a little less).

Batting Average
Stephen Vogt, Oak .337
Russell Martin, Tor .288
Salvador Perez, KC .283
Caleb Joseph, Bal .282
Brian McCann, NYY .241
Kurt Suzuki, Min .240
Jason Castro, Hou .231
Tyler Flowers, CHW .227
Ryan Hanigan, Bos .222
Alex Avila, Det .200
Mike Zunino, Sea .180
Roberto Perez, Cle .161
Robinson Chrinos, Tex .159
Rene Rivera, TB .141
Chris Iannetta, LAA .101

OPS
Stephen Vogt, Oak 1.098
Russell Martin, Tor .954
Caleb Joseph, Bal .833
Jason Castro, Hou .722
Salvador Perez, KC .718
Brian McCann, NYY .709
Ryan Hanigan, Bos .669
Alex Avila, Det .659
Kurt Suzuki, Min .659
Robinson Chrinos, Tex .627
Roberto Perez, Cle .621
Mike Zunino, Sea .615
Tyler Flowers, CHW .605
Rene Rivera, TB .433
Chris Iannetta, LAA .318

 

[NWinAZ]

I would say that in the AL they move their best hitting catchers from C to 1B or DH to keep them healthy and in the line up more, but adding players who have made that move (like Victor Martinez, Joe Mauer and Mike Napoli) back into the catcher numbers really doesn't improve the catcher's overall offensive output.

That's actually a really good point. Mauer, Jaso, and Napoli are just 3 I can think of at the top of my head.

 

[seahawksfan234]

Zunino's bat has been pretty abysmal, and I know you referenced not giving a fuck about his pitch framing, but I will say that even with his terrible offensive skills, he still is better than a replacement player at his position due to his pitch framing.

The offensive statistics are clearly a lot more tangible, but say we had a catcher with a .240 BA instead of Zunino's .180 or whatever it's at, you take that upgrade at the plate, and you're likely to have a serious regression in terms of pitch framing that would cancel out the offensive gains.

Defensively he is top tier. My biggest concern is that he has not shown improvement at the plate. He clearly has the natural ability to absolutely crush the ball, but that is worthless if he's seldom getting on base and striking out all of the time.

Realistically, what good would sending him down do for his offensive skills? Any adjustments he needs to make can be made at the major league level, because let's be honest, it's not like he's going to get any worse.