Catcher Mike Zunino Designated For Assignment By Cleveland Guardians

Catcher Mike Zunino’s brief tenure with the Cleveland Guardians has ended.

The right-handed hitting Zunino, 32, was designated for assignment June 16.

Zunino, who was said to have been fully recovered from thoracic outlet syndrome. His 2022 season with the Tampa Bay Rays was interrupted with TSO surgery.

This offseason, the Guardians signed Zunino to a $6 million contract as a free agent.

Zunino became the Guardians starting catcher, backed up on the roster by catcher Cam Gallagher and David Fry.

Zunino leaves the Guardians after hitting just .171/.271/.306 in 140 plate appearances. He struck out 61 times.

Defensively, this may have been Zunino’s worst performance. It seemed to this writer that the pitch clock, and all the mechanical changes required to meet the clock timing, took a toll on Zunino.

It is true that most big league catchers are seeing their caught stealing percentages decline, Zunino threw out only 8 of 48 runners trying to steal. Clearly, the pitchers share some of the blame. However, to this scout, Zunino’s throws lacked carry and accuracy. He had been charged with 3 errors.

Charged with 5 passed balls already this season, the official scorers could probably have increased that total, but some of the situations were called wild pitches.

An All Star with the Tampa Bay Rays in 2021, Zunino was drafted by the Seattle Mariners in the 1st round of the 2012 draft.

The Mariners traded Zunino to the Tampa Bay Rays on June 4, 2012.

Zunino spent parts of 6 seasons with Seattle, and 4 with Tampa Bay.

Now, after starting 41 games for the Guardians, Zunino has been designated for assignment.

It was widely believed Zunino would be the team’s starting catcher until prospect Bo Naylor, currently playing at Triple-A Columbus, is ready for a big league promotion.

Fans have been calling for Naylor to assume the top catching role in Cleveland, but the Guardians have always been very careful about promoting players until they feel the player is ready to handle the rigors of a major league role. Especially one as the starting catcher.

At this point, the Guardians have Fry and Gallagher as the two catchers on the big league roster.