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=== Game Recap, Dept. ===

Going into last year's June ammy draft, we M's fans were underwhelmed.  But if you read this pre-draft discussion of Zunino, you'll have to give SSI denizens their due.  Pre-draft they prophesied Jay-Z's and McNamara's comments about the pick; post-draft they echo'ed Jay-Z's and McNamara's comments about the pick.  These three things converged:

• Pre-draft SSI crunch
• Mariners' staff P.R. about Zunino
• Post-draft SSI crunch

All of these things lined up neatly.  In particular, Gordon's take on Zunino was a carbon-copy of what the GM and the scouting director had to say.

What did they have to say?  The same thing that G-Money did:  that if you can get a Charles Johnson, and there's nothing else better, that's what you do:

Tom: "He's steady. He doesn't jump out and wow you like other players. What you get at the end of the day is a steady, hard-nosed tough kid who has power and can really catch."

Jack: "He's a nice looking player. He's a tough kid. You think about that position. It's very difficult to fill it as we know and everyone in baseball knows. When you have a kid with the pedigree and leadership skills, as well as the chance to hit the ball out of the ballpark, I thought it was a real nice package."

Looking at the vids, Dr. D warned that the swing was All-Star caliber, notably for the way that Zunino consistently let the ball drive deep into the zone, and then the way he Mike Schmidt'ed down onto the ball to create loft and backspin.  

But we all agreed:  hey, he can catch, and he'll hit some homers, but .... big chance of his bat being a FAIL.

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=== And Then They Said Play (ZUUM)Ball ===

Zunino went to A- ball, just to get loose, and hit 10 homers in 29 games.  With 18 walks.  It's fine to wipe out a short league, but this guy was posting a .500 OBP and .700 SLG in the same style that Ryan Braun would, if you sent him to that league now.  Put a wooden bat in his hands and the ball seemed to go ... farther.

The M's moved him up to the high minors at AA Jackson.  From Day One he pwned 24-year-old pitchers who could throw breaking balls for strikes.  In two weeks he hit 3 homers, 4 doubles, slammed a .400 OBP and a .600 SLG.  It's fine too, to have a hot couple of weeks.  It's weird to put down a synthetic bat, to just "See Ball Hit Ball" and hit the ball hard and far, over the fence.

The M's then put him in the Southern League playoffs.  I don't remember his stats, but do remember that he hit several homers more and carried the Generals through the first round into the finals.

The M's put him in the Arizona Fall League.  Now he switched to trrrrrrrriples, Capt. Jack.  The guy has played in four different pro contexts, since college last summer, and swum around the lake like a freshwater shark all alone at the buffet.

.....................

We all feared, Draft Day, that Zunino's college bat wouldn't translate to wood and to located breaking balls.  Just 60 pro games on, all of a sudden that Mike Schmidt swing looks awfully 500-homer'ish.

Everybody, even the most die-hard No Cheering In The Press Box types, is asking "June or April?" for Zuumball.  Okay, we ax it.

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