Editor’s Note- Credible Italian Guy is my good friend Philip Smeraldo and my go to source for Mariner’s analysis and was more than eager to break down the M’s pick of Mike Zunino after I was initially skeptical. Ever the optimist, Phil does a great job of analyzing the pick on the marginal value and also how it fits with the organization as a whole.
Alright, Credible Italian guy coming back with some more Mariners related news. Last time I was here I wrote about the Michael Pineda for Jesus Montero trade that shook the baseball world. Not to toot my own horn, but I’m going to anyway, I talked a bit about Michael Pineda’s injury history and why that could be a problem for the Yankees. Boom. I balanced out this wonderful prediction however, with calling Brandon League the best closer in major league baseball, so as always, take my words with a grain of salt.
The Seattle Mariners were given the right to draft 3rd in the MLB First Years Player draft due to an exceptionally poor all around performance by last years team. With this pick the Seattle Mariners selected Mike Zunino out of the University of Florida. Zunino is a Florida native hailing from Mariner High School, anybody believe in destiny?
A quick run down on Zunino’s Vitals:
- Zunino stands at 6’2 and weighs 220 Pounds according to University of Florida’s Player Stats: Above average stature for a catcher, which I will touch on later.
- 21 years old and just finished his Junior year in college.
- Bats Right Handed
- And if you have not learned by now Zunino plays the most important defensive position on the field Catcher.
Alright lets get to the good stuff. The Scouting Report
The Defense:
Mike Zunino made the all-defensive team for the SEC, being the unanimous pick by the committee to be the best fielding catcher in that Conference. Right away this should inspire confidence. If you’re more of a skeptic or just feel like being disagreeable I will give you more.
