Add new comment

Homers commonly run along an inconsistent per/AB ratio over a full season.  Players get hot and club 'em....and then don't.  But Zunino's were actually pretty flat lined.  His Month/AB/HR's numbers looked like this.
Mar-Apr/78/3    May/77/4    June/86/5      July/70/5     August/63/2    Sept-Oct/69/3
 
August saw a bit of a decline...the others were dang consistent.
I'm with you Matt:  He has some batting growth that is wanted.  But if he never gets much better or worse than last year, he's still a valueable commodity.
And I don't believe another 300 AB's of AA pitching and 200 more of AAA pitching would have made him any better than he is now.  Baseball is the only major sport that takes 23 and 24 year old men with demonstrated skill-sets and discounts them because they haven't done it yet in Wrigley or Safeco.  At 24, in the NFL or NBA or NHL or MLS, you are no longer a prospect.  But MLB talent evaluators do it all the time.  I'm convinced that a guy like Kivlehan could get his 40 games in Tacoma and step in and help the M's as a RHB COF.  He has consistently shown a skill set that will play up.  If he can help the team, then play him up.