BRENT STECKER

Mariners call up Mike Zunino to replace injured backup catcher Steve Clevenger

Jun 30, 2016, 1:54 PM | Updated: Jul 1, 2016, 1:55 pm

Scott Servais says Mike Zunino has gotten away from the approach that was working for him earlier i...

Scott Servais says Mike Zunino has gotten away from the approach that was working for him earlier in the season. (AP)

(AP)

After spending the first half of the 2016 season in Triple-A, Mike Zunino is back in the majors.

The Mariners recalled the 25-year-old catcher before Thursday’s series opener against Baltimore and placed backup catcher Steve Clevenger on the 15-day disabled list. Clevenger suffered a broken right third metacarpal when a foul ball hit him in the hand in Wednesday night’s loss to Pittsburgh.

Mariners general manager Jerry Dipoto told “Danny, Dave and Moore” that Clevenger is expected to be out for two months, and Shannon Drayer reports that he will undergo surgery Friday.

Drayer: Mike Zunino’s development will continue in majors with Mariners

Also on Thursday, Seattle recalled Tom Wilhelmsen from Triple-A and optioned fellow reliver Donn Roach to Tacoma.

Zunino was initially called up by Seattle during the 2013 season when he was just 22 and had only 96 minor-league games under his belt. He served as the Mariners’ primary catcher from that point until late last season, and while defensively sound and loaded with power, he struggled to make contact on a consistent basis. In 2015, he hit .174 with 11 home runs and struck out 132 times in 112 games, while in 2014 he had a .199 average, 20 homers and 158 strikeouts in 131 games.

Seattle aimed to give Zunino a fresh start by sending him to the minors last August. He rebounded to hit .317 with three homers and eight strikeouts in 43 plate appearances with Tacoma last year, and has continued to perform well this year with the Rainiers. Over 69 games with Tacoma in 2016, he has a .282/.366/.516 slash line with 15 homers, 51 RBIs, 62 strikeouts and 28 walks in 287 plate appearances.

While Zunino’s improvements in the minors were a factor in the Mariners’ decision to promote him, they also had a limited number of options. There were two other catchers in Tacoma, but Jesus Sucre is still on a rehab assignment coming back from a broken leg suffered in January while paying in the Venezuelan winter league, and Rob Brantly was unavailable Thursday as he was with his wife for the birth of their child.

Clevenger, 30, is hitting .221 with one homer in 22 games for Seattle this year.

Wilhelmsen, 32, has a 10.07 ERA in 22 MLB games this year, but 21 of those appearances were with the Rangers, whom the Mariners sent him to in the offseason as part of the Leonys Martin trade. He was granted his release from Texas earlier this month and signed with Seattle last week, and he threw one scoreless inning on June 23 for the Mariners before being optioned to Tacoma to work his way back from a 10-day layoff.

Roach, 26, gave up four runs on six hits and two walks over three games (3 1/3 innings pitched) for Seattle after being called up June 24.

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