Major League Baseball

Zunino showing progress on offense - and Mariners like what they're seeing

Published May. 14, 2015 3:25 p.m. ET

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Young Seattle Mariners catcher Mike Zunino got off to a terrible start in 2015 offensively, striking out a ton and displaying issues with bat control and selectivity as a hitter.

That seems to be changing in light of some recent offensive success, including a two-home run game on Tuesday night against San Diego. 

As he told Shannon Drayer of ESPN Seattle, Zunino credited that recent hot streak to slowing things down: "I was able to just clear the slate, come back in the the cage today and go back to some things I was doing and just slow things down a little bit," he said.

His manager Lloyd McClendon championed his progress, but noted that it didn't just happen overnight: "He's getting better. It hasn't shown up in the box score but he is getting better. I think in the end it is going to pay off. We will see a better hitter at the end of the year."

One of the things to remember when evaluating Zunino is, as McClendon notes, the fact that he's still just 24 years old: "What you have to understand is he is relatively very young at this level. He hasn't had a lot of at-bats, and even to this day, every day is a new day for him. A new experience. He's learning pitchers, he's learning this staff. It's starting to slow down a little bit for him and he is learning the league."

Zunino may still own a slash line of just .188/.255/.385 but he's done the sorts of things this past week that give the Mariners hope he's finally starting to turn the corner offensively.

(h/t My Northwest)

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