Video: Mike Zunino homers twice in return to Mariners’ lineup
Jul 3, 2016, 1:26 AM | Updated: 1:40 am
In 2015, Mike Zunino seemed like he was stranded without a paddle as the Mariners’ starting catcher. By season’s end, failing to get his average above .200 for the second year in a row, he was in Triple-A beginning an effort to restart a career that had stalled in the major leagues.
On Saturday, after 10 months away from MLB play to concentrate on his approach at the plate, and in a reduced role as Seattle’s secondary catcher, Zunino returned to the Mariners lineup in a big way.
Related: Nelson Cruz crushes 459-foot homer in Mariners’ win
In his first at-bat, Zunino ripped a 1-2 curveball into the visitor’s bullpen at Safeco Field, a fitting “welcome back” for a 25-year-old player who had shown plenty of promise before in a Mariners uniform. And as if that wasn’t enough, three trips to the plate later he did it again, turning on a 93 mph fastball to send it into Edgar’s Cantina, named after one of the men who has been instrumental in the effort to turn Zunino’s career around: Mariners hitting coach Edgar Martinez.
It may have been only one game, but for now the Mariners and Zunino have to be feeling pretty good about the work he did in the minors to earn his way back to the big club, as well as the results they produced in Saturday’s 12-6 win.
