It's Time For The Seattle Mariners To Call Up Mike Zunino

Mike Zunino’s path with the Seattle Mariners has been a rocky one. He realistically was called up to the majors too quickly because of the Mariners’ need for a catcher. Zunino struggled repeatedly, but still held onto the starting catchers job. GM Jerry Dipoto and the new regime had different plans for Zunino this year: Start over in the minors.

Dipoto brought in veteran Chris Iannetta, who has struggled in recent years, as well as traded for backup catcher Steve Clevenger. Plans for Zunino in the minors have worked out lately, with him excelling beyond what most expected. Iannetta and Clevenger, on the other hand, have struggled mightily (Clevenger more than Iannetta).

Iannetta currently has a .231 average and Clevenger a .221. Iannetta has seven home runs, Clevenger one. There stats combined give the Mariners 24 runs and 26 RBIs. Although the catcher position isn’t the most productive historically, Clevenger and Iannetta have looked down right pathetic. It hurts even more when you think about how the Mariners gave up Mark Trumbo for Clevenger. Trumbo currently leads MLB with 22 home runs.

Someone asked me recently when do we start to reconsider the Trumbo-Clevenger deal, and the answer is realistically about two months ago. To think Clevenger could be a better backup catcher than Zunino is ridiculous. Sure, Zunino needs time to develop, but as a backup behind a veteran catcher like Iannetta is how he should be developed.

In the offseason, I was sure that the best route for Zunino was the minors for all of 2016 and that the Clevenger deal made sense, but I was dead wrong. The time to call up Zunino is now. The Mariners need all the help they can get. Essentially, when the Mariners put Clevenger in the lineup, they are giving themselves an NL lineup, a lineup without a DH. At times, I would rather see the pitcher hit than Clevenger. No joke.

Zunino, at this point, has more than proved he has got himself together and can perform. He currently has a batting line of .273/.359/.512 with 15 home runs and 50 RBIs in 67 minor league games. As a team that is trying to compete, how do you justify keeping Clevenger on the club and keeping Zunino down in the minors?

There are many issues with the Mariners’ roster right now, including catcher. Luckily for the Mariners, it is one of the easiest problems to solve. Having a catcher like Zunino sitting in the minors is a luxury most teams don’t have. It is officially time for the Mariners to use that luxury.