Mike Zunino good fit for power-thirsty Guardians

The Guardians wanted more offense from their catcher. Veteran Mike Zunino needed a team to take a shot on him after a rare injury limited him to 36 games last year for Tampa Bay. They formed a perfect pair. "They were early in the whole process," Zunino said of the Guardians and free agency, describing a phone call with general manager Mike Chernoff, manager Terry Francona and coach Sandy Alomar about three weeks before the winter meetings Dec. 4-7 in San Diego. "Giving me the rundown of the organization, gauging some interest, sort of seeing what would be a potential fit. "I left it feeling very good. It reminded me a lot of where I was coming from in Tampa, family-oriented, a young team with a lot of potential. Their attention to detail seemed really good. As the ball got rolling a little bit more, it made it an easy decision." Roughly a month after that conversation, Zunino signed a one-year contract worth $6 million to replace Austin Hedges as the starting catcher. It was an easy decision for Cleveland, as well, especially Francona, who met Zunino at the All-Star Game in Denver in 2021 and came away impressed. "Sometimes you talk to somebody and it's nice and everything and cordial and then you're ready to move on. As I was talking to him, you want to keep talking to him," Francona said of Zunino, who turns 32 in March. "He's a really good kid. But, a lot like Hedgie, it's defense first, which we really care about. I don't know that we can win without that. But he also has the ability, when healthy, I think he hit 30 home runs a couple years ago. "Last year was difficult for him health-wise, and that's probably why we were able to get a shot at him. But the hope is he's gonna be healthy and with health comes really good defense, a guy that can run the game and then hopefully (he) adds a bunch of power to it also. But if that power isn't there, we still have a guy that runs the game and catches, which we obviously feel very strongly about." Last year was a rough one for Zunino, who made the All-Star team for the first time the previous season (33 home runs in 109 games) and seemed poised for another big year in his fourth season with the Rays organization. Instead, he developed thoracic outlet syndrome in his left shoulder and neck area — an ailment that took awhile to diagnose and led to season-ending surgery. "A lot of exams, a lot of trying to put the finger on it," Zunino said. "When I first had it, it sort of felt like a fullness in my shoulder. It felt like I had just done a workout and I felt like I had some swelling in there. The day it happened, it sort of then trickled down into my hand where I sort of had a little bit of numbness and tingling in three of my fingers. It was an indication of TOS. "We sort of ran the gamut. We tried a bunch of stuff, from Botox to try and get the nerves in space to some other injections. It just sort of stemmed that surgery was the best option. Almost immediately after surgery symptoms subsided. It was the right call. We left no stone unturned in trying to diagnose it. The timing of when it happened was right because, now, I can go on and have a full offseason and I'm not going through those beginning stages into middle or late offseason." Though the Guardians will likely be cautious, Zunino expects to have full clearance for spring training when pitchers and catchers report to Goodyear, Arizona, on Feb. 14. "I've progressed into a normal offseason routine," he said. "Progressed into hitting off a tee, doing some flips. Have not hit live arm as in BP or velo machine, but continuing to try to make reps as important as possible. Only playing 30 games last year, I want to get the rest of my body up to speed with where I want to be, too. There's a lot that goes into swings, whether it's obliques, whether it's a bunch of things. So building some reps when I challenge myself and get to that point, I'll be good to go. I've been symptom-free, gaining strength, mobility has been great." Cleveland is hoping a healthy Zunino translates into more power than it got last year from Hedges — .163 batting average, seven homers, .248 slugging percentage in 105 games. He signed a one-year deal with the Pirates worth $5 million. Cleveland, which ranked second-to-last in the majors with 127 homers in 2022 — half of the Yankees' total — also added first baseman/DH Josh Bell this offseason. Bell is expected to hit behind All-Star third baseman Jose Ramirez in the middle of the order, where Zunino could also be located. "We think Mike's a great complement to our team," team president Chris Antonetti said. "He's renowned as a really good defensive catcher who does an extraordinary job of leading a pitching staff, which we've shared is a real priority for us. We also think he has the ability to contribute offensively as an All-Star in the 2021 season. He was a really productive offensive player and posted one of the best power rates in all of Major League Baseball." Zunino, the third overall pick in the 2012 draft by Seattle, will do his best to relocate the power stroke. But he knows what comes first with his new organization. "You see where the backbone of this team is with pitching and defense," Zunino said. "Like most successful teams, being on the opposite side of it, you always know what teams have great arms, and Cleveland has always had that. Being able to see these young guys continue to grow, to see what their numbers have turned into. Obviously potential was always through the roof, but some of these guys are really piecing things together now. I'm looking forward to coming in and continuing to share what knowledge I've learned over my career and help these guys take the next step. "On the offensive side, there's very few teams that have low-strikeout profiles, a lot of contact. Those are the teams that are tough to defend because they are the anomalies now. Strikeouts are up so high, and three true outcomes. They're almost tougher to game-plan for because the coverage on certain pitches is a little bit unpredictable because they're so good with their bat-to-ball skills. It's exciting, the speed dynamic in the lineup is really enticing. It's just different ways to effect games. I think there's a reason why you've seen the success they had last year and growing from that. With these young guys continuing to get confident, it's only going to get better." Contact Chris Assenheimer at (440) 329-7136 or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com. Like him on Facebook and follow him on Twitter @CAwesomeheimer.