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Jerry Dipoto notebook: Expectations for Mike Zunino, thoughts on Mariners starting rotation and more

Feb 28, 2017, 4:23 PM | Updated: 4:41 pm

Jerry Dipoto: "For Mike (Zunino), it's about the ability to get on base and hit it over the fence."...

Jerry Dipoto: "For Mike (Zunino), it's about the ability to get on base and hit it over the fence." (AP)

(AP)

LISTEN: Mariners GM Jerry Dipoto talks emphasis on athleticism, improvements

As a former first-round draft pick of the Mariners and 25-year-old catcher who has already seen action in each of the last four MLB seasons, the expectations for Mike Zunino as a major league player have always been pretty high. But when it comes to the 2017 season, one in which he enters as the presumed starter behind the plate, Mariners general manager Jerry Dipoto has just one small improvement in mind for him.

One extra walk a week.

That’s all Dipoto believes could result in a world of difference for a player whose career has seen its fair share of ups (solid defense, light-tower power) and downs (two sub-.200 seasons, an extended trip back to Triple-A in 2016) in such a short amount of time.

“It’s not going to be about batting average for him. For Mike, it’s about the ability to get on base and hit it over the fence,” Dipoto told “Brock and Salk” on Tuesday from Mariners spring training in Arizona. “The power shows up with Mike. He will hit the ball over the fence. … A walk a week, it’s an extra four walks per month. Times six (months), it adds up. You add 24 walks to a normal, eight-percent walk rate, and by the end of the year you have a guy who’s gonna be on base above league average.”

Dipoto: 2016 improvement by M’s allowed for fine-tuning of roster

Dipoto believes that simple adjustment could result in a pretty big accolade for Zunino, too.

“If he does those things combined with his defense, he’ll be an All-Star,” Dipoto said.

Dipoto mentioned one other reasonable expectation the Mariners have for Zunino this season. After playing 55 MLB games last year, 112 in 2015 and 131 in 2014, Seattle’s aiming for him to play in the 100-105 game range this year, with veteran Carlos Ruiz picking up the rest of playing time.

Here’s more from Dipoto’s visit with “Brock and Salk”:

Depth addressed for pitching staff. Dipoto talked about how the team is much better prepared for an entire season, and the injuries that come with it, as it pertains to the bullpen and starting rotation. “I really like the depth in the bullpen. Beyond what we anticipate the seven guys we break (camp) and go north with, there are a lot of interesting arms to grow with,” he said. There’s also some intriguing names stacked behind the five starters expected to make up the rotation that should help if the team gets bitten by health woes like it did in 2016. “We know we’re gonna need 15, 20 starts from guys who don’t break camp with us. That’s the way baseball works,” he said. “We feel like we’re better suited to doing that this year with guys like (Ariel) Miranda and (Rob) Whalen and (Dillon) Overton and Chris Heston, etc. And really with the coming prospects, guys like (Andrew) Moore and (Max) Povse.”

The two Dans. The Mariners were able to minimize the amount of platoons they expect to utilize this season to just two, with a corner outfield spot being one and first base being the other. Dipoto is encouraged by what he’s seen at first, where rookie Daniel Vogelbach has made big strides defensively and veteran utility man Danny Valencia is proving to be capable as well. “The early returns have been positive in terms of the Vogelbach-Valencia pairing at first base,” Dipoto said. “That’s been maybe one of the more pleasant developments in the early spring is how good Vogey looks defensively and how quickly Valencia’s acclimated himself over there, which were questions coming in.”

Who to watch. Asked to identify players who have surprised him thus far in camp, Dipoto was happy to share a long list. It included reliver Shae Simmons, who the Mariners got via trade from Atlanta in the offseason, returning rookie reliever Dan Altavilla, utility player Taylor Motter, who came over in an early offseason trade from Tampa Bay, and athletic Cuban rookie outfielder Guillermo Heredia. Both Simmons and Altavilla have live arms and have proven early this spring that they’re worthy of strong consideration to make the team. Regarding Simmons, Dipoto said, “We had high hopes when he was coming into camp. They’re higher now.” And on Altavilla, he’s “convincing us again that September was not a fluke. He’s throwing the ball great, it’s electric stuff. His bullpen’s have been dynamic, and he took it into a game (Monday) and was up close to 100 mph in the spring, which is a very difficult thing to do this early.” Motter is standing out “for his athletic ability, the thing that he can bring to a utility role,” Dipoto said, and Heredia may be the player making the biggest leap in spring training. “His intensity level, the quality of his at-bats, what he’s doing in the morning sessions, he’s demanding that we notice that last year was just scratching the surface.”

Straight fire. A new, imposing presence on the mounds at Peoria Sports Complex has been Brazilian right-hander Thyago Vieira, who hasn’t played higher than Single-A before but has elite velocity that will get him to Seattle sooner rather than later. “In the Fall League he was up to 104 mph, and his average velocity was close to 100,” Dipoto said. “In the early BP sessions, we already have some of our veteran players and more than a staff member or two wondering why we would ever consider sending him back to the minor leagues.” Dipoto sounded like he wasn’t quite that convinced yet considering Vieira’s inexperience, but he pointed at the cases of Altavilla and closer Edwin Diaz, who both skipped Triple-A to join the Mariners during the 2016 season to great results. “It’s a great arm. We’re gonna see where it takes us. And as you saw last year with guys like Diaz and Altavilla, we’re not afraid to move them when the time is right.”

The evolution of Diaz. Speaking of Diaz, Dipoto had thoughts about the young flame-thrower’s swoon late last season, which he believed had a lot to do about his meteoric rise from Double-A starter to big league closer. “The combination of watching what Edwin can do and watching how he’s throwing early here in the camp, I think he just got tired in September,” he said. “We took a kid who came in as a starter – who had never been anything but a starter – and we ran him out there for 50-plus games over the course of Double-A, major league use. … We put a lot of pressure on him and he went out there in heavy situations.” Dipoto called Diaz one of the reasons he sleeps well at night rather than one of the reasons he loses sleep, though, and added that Diaz has more up his sleeve this year than just a high-90s fastball and devastating slide. “I love his mentality, I love his resiliency, it’s impossible not to love his stuff. He came into spring training with a smile on his face, whipping it at 95 in bullpens,” Dipoto said. “He’s throwing a changeup now, which I think is encouraging. If he can add a third pitch to the mix of what he’s already got, I think it makes him more interesting.”

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