Catching struggles surface again in Guardians' loss

CHICAGO -- The Guardians knew that adding Mike Zunino to their roster over the offseason wasn’t a cut-and-dry answer to their catching problems. His defensive metrics in the past have been above average, but he missed nearly all of last season due to thoracic outlet syndrome. He brings more power to the table, but he also has a lot of swing and miss.

There was risk in bringing him in, especially after missing so much time last year, but there was also a chance for a decent reward. So far, the team is waiting to see that big payout, as his struggles continued again on Tuesday night in the Guardians’ 8-3 loss to the White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field.

If his offensive woes haven’t been enough, Zunino was caught up in the momentum shift of the series opener in Chicago. Starter Shane Bieber had bobbed and weaved his way through traffic in the first few innings and had gotten two outs in the fifth when Zunino was called for catcher’s interference while Luis Robert Jr. was in the box. Three singles and two homers ensued, resulting in a six-run inning.

“Frustrating,” Zunino said. “I wish it was something that didn’t happen. But it’s one of those things back there, it does [happen] and it’s unfortunate because I felt that Biebs was throwing the ball really well to that point.”

It was the icing on the cake for Zunino, who’s been struggling mightily at the plate since May began, going 0-for-25 with 19 strikeouts since the first of the month.

So much of last season’s focus was on the lack of offensive production from Cleveland’s catchers. The team hoped those results would improve at least a smidge this year, even if the defense slipped slightly from what Austin Hedges brought to the table. But last year, the Guardians' backstops owned a .186 average and .568 OPS in their first 41 games. That’s far from outstanding, but this season, the catchers own a .126 average and .465 OPS in that same span.

This is one of the worst 41-game starts for Guardians backstops in the last 50 seasons. The .465 OPS ranks third worst behind Cleveland’s .421 OPS in 1985 and .429 in 2020. The .126 trails just ‘20’s .121.

Backup catcher Cam Gallagher has hit a mere .051 with a .196 OPS. Zunino has hit two homers in his first 28 games, batting .169 with a .606 OPS and a team-leading 44 strikeouts.

“Yeah, I mean he’s having a tough time,” Guardians manager Terry Francona said. “We know there’s swing and miss and when things are going bad, it kind of gets exacerbated. He hit a ball the other day in Cleveland to kind of right of center the day the wind was blowing in. Don’t get rewarded for it. Sometimes you need that.”

In difficult times, a player will take anything in order to get an ounce of momentum back in their favor. As Zunino was still searching for his first hit this month, the Guardians decided to pinch-hit for him in the seventh inning. His hand wasn’t bothering him too badly, but Francona thought it would be good to give him time to get it looked at, which allowed the coaching staff to see more of David Fry.

“We’re trying to get something out of the game,” Francona said. “If you don’t win, let’s get something out of it.”

The Guardians need to keep all of their options open. Francona is never one to shake things up in the lineup over short-term skids because he believes it does more harm than good in the long run. But if Zunino continues on this path, the Guardians need to be ready to commit to other options, especially when someone like Bo Naylor, the club’s No. 4 prospect per MLB Pipeline, is waiting in Triple-A Columbus. Francona talked briefly over the weekend about Naylor.

“It’s been hard for him because the staff he’s working with, he has not been in the position to throw successfully,” Francona said. “So he’s kind of rushing. … You don’t want him to develop some poor habits because he’s trying to rush because you got some pitchers there that are trying to work on some pitches.”

In the meantime, Zunino will try to show he can help bring life to the bottom of Cleveland’s lineup.

“Just trying to get there mechanically,” Zunino said. “It’s one of those things where you just continue to work and put the work in every day.”