Bernardo Sebastian “Seby” Zavala...attended Bishop Amat High School in La Puente, Calif....attended San Diego State University (2012-15), where he played for Baseball Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn and was teammates with Ty France...Selected by the Chicago White Sox in the 12th round of the 2015 MLB First-Year Player Draft out of San Diego State University...made Major League debut with the Sox on May 25, 2019 vs. Minnesota...selected off waivers by Arizona on Sept. 6, 2023...acquired by the Mariners, along with RHP Carlos Vargas, from ARI in exchange for INF Eugenio Suárez on Nov. 22, 2023.
2023
Appeared in 73 games between Chicago-AL (66 G) and Arizona (7 G), batting .171 (30x175) with 17 runs, four doubles, seven home runs, 18 RBI and 12 walks...Placed on 10-day Injured List on Aug. 6 (retroactive to Aug. 3) with a left oblique strain...reinstated from the IL and designated for assignment by Chicago-AL on Sept. 4...claimed off waivers by Arizona on Sept. 6...Made his first career pitching appearance with Arizona on Sept. 14 at NYM, recording two outs without allowing a run.
2022
Split the season between the White Sox and Class AAA Charlotte…set career highs in every category, improving his career average from .183 entering the season to .233...Appeared in 58 games (49 starts) at catcher and also appeared in his first two career games at first base…Sox pitchers posted a 4.01 ERA (200 ER/448.2 IC) when he was behind the plate…threw out 24.1 percent (7-29) of attempted base stealers... Right On: Recorded 15 multi-hit efforts in his 49 starts…hit .284/.344/.404 (40-141) vs. right-handed pitchers and .298/.327/.426 (14-47) with RISP... Was outrighted to Charlotte on 4/7, where he slashed .282/.396/.535 (40-142) with 12 doubles, eight home runs, 16 RBI and 26 runs scored in 41 games…homered twice on 5/18 vs. Norfolk...His contract was selected from Charlotte on 6/12…made his season debut that afternoon vs. Texas and hit a sacrifice fly in the 11th inning … made his first start on 6/15 at Detroit, going 2-5 with a homer and three RBI...Went 3-5 with two doubles and three RBI on 7/3 at San Francisco…hit a three-run homer off Nick Gordon in a 12-2 victory on 7/14 at Minnesota...Started seven games at catcher from 8/21-30 in place of the injured Yasmani Grandal, going 5-19 (.263) with two doubles and seven walks during that stretch... Drew a career-high three walks on 8/24 at Baltimore…became the first Sox catcher (other than Grandal) to walk three-plus times in a game since Kevan Smith on 9/2/18 vs. Boston...Caught Dylan Cease's one-hitter on 9/3 vs. Minnesota…no-hit bid was broken up with two outs in the ninth on a single by Luis Arraez...Was placed on the seven-day concussion list on 9/27 and missed the remainder of the season.
2021
Split the season between the White Sox and the Class AAA Charlotte...played in 37 games with the Sox, including 31 starts....White Sox pitchers posted a 3.46 ERA (103 ER/267.2 IP) when he was behind the plate...threw out 2-26 (7.7 percent) of attempted basestealers....Was recalled from Charlotte on 7/6, replacing Yasmani Grandal on the active roster....Made his first start on 7/7 at Minnesota, catching All-Star Lance Lynn in the Sox 6-1 victory over the Twins....Seby's Historic Night: Went 4-4 with his first three career home runs, six RBI and four runs scored on 7/31 vs. Cleveland...entered the contest with five career hits, one RBI and four runs scored in his first 17 MLB games...hit a solo shot to center field off RHP Triston McKenzie in the third, a grand slam to left off McKenzie in the fourth and a solo shot to right off Bryan Shaw in the seventh...a breakdown of his historic accomplishments:...First player in MLB history to hit his first three career home runs in the same game (Elias);...17th player (18th time) in club history to hit three-plus homers in a game, and first since José Abreu (8/22/20 at Cubs);...First White Sox catcher to record a three-homer game, and first in MLB since the Yankees' Kyle Higashioka (No. 9 hitter) on 9/16/20 vs. Toronto...first White Sox No. 9 hitter with three home runs in a game;...Six RBI tied Craig Grebeck (4/30/92 vs. Texas) for the second-most by a Sox No. 9 hitter behind Charles Johnson (7 on 9/2/2000 vs. Anaheim);...Sixth White Sox catcher with six-plus RBI in a game (one shy of club record), and first since Johnson in 2000;...Third player in Sox history with 4-plus hits/3-plus HR/6-plus RBI/4-plus runs scored in a game, joining Car...Reynolds on 7/2-2/30 and Pat Seerey on 7/18-1/48)...13 total bases tied for fifth-most ever by a White Sox player....Hit his fourth home run on 8/12 vs. the Yankees in the "Field of Dreams" Game in Dyersville, Iowa...also drew a one-out walk off Zack Britton in the bottom of the ninth to set up Tim Anderson's game-ending, two-run homer off Britton....Was 2-3 with two RBI on 8/16 vs. Oakland...hit his final home run on 8/21 at Tampa Bay....Was 0-12 over his final seven games from 8/28-9/12...made his final start on 9/12 vs. Boston...was optioned to Charlotte on 9/14 for the remainder of the season....Opened the season with the Knights on a six-game hitting streak, going 9-25 (.360) with three doubles, two home runs and seven RBI....Preseason Baseball America Rankings: Best Defensive Catcher in Sox system.
2020
Spent the season at the Schaumburg training facility...Preseason Baseball America: Sox Best Defensive Catcher...Preseason MLB.com Rankings: White Sox No. 26 prospect....
2019
Spent most of the season with Class AAA Charlotte but also made his major-league debut with the White Sox in May ... Sox pitchers owned a 3.91 ERA (10 ER/23.0 IP) when he was behind the plate … threw out 1-2 of attempted basestealers ... Was recalled from Charlotte on 5/25 … made his debut that afternoon at Minnesota as a pinch-hitter (strikeout) ... Made his first career start on 5/26 at the Twins, going 0-4 ... Recorded his first major-league hit on 5/31 vs. Cleveland, a single off Trevor Bauer … was optioned to Charlotte following the game ... Was recalled from the Knights on 8/2 … appeared in two games from 8/2-3 at Philadelphia before being optioned back to Charlotte for the remainder of the season ... Finished third on the Knights with 20 home runs ... Made 49 starts at catcher, 17 at first base and 13 as the DH … threw out 33.3 percent (17-51) of attempted basestealers ... Preseason MLB.com: No. 22 prospect in the Sox system.
2018
Hit .258 (98-380) with 22 doubles, 13 home runs, 51 RBI, 50 runs scored and 33 walks over 104 combined games between Class AA Birmingham and Class AAA Charlotte ... Combined to throw out 32.7 percent (18-55) of attempted basestealers at the two stops ... Opened the season with Birmingham and was named to the Southern League midseason All-Star team ... Was named the Sox Minor League co-Player of the Month for April (with OF Luis Basabe) … hit .315 (23-73) with four doubles, six home runs, 19 RBI, 13 runs scored, a .411 on-base percentage and .616 slugging percentage over 22 games ... Reached base safely in 11 straight games to open the season … homered in three consecutive games from 4/23-26 and 5/7-9 vs. Pensacola ... Was on Birmingham's disabled list from 5/21-29 with a sprained left wrist ... Recorded four hits on 6/14 vs. Chattanooga … was promoted to Charlotte on 6/21, where he spent the rest of the season ... Hit his only two home runs with the Knights on 7/29 at Pawtucket and 8/14 vs. Buffalo … recorded three multi-RBI efforts in a four-game span from 8/23-26.
2017
Combined to hit .282 (109-387) with 21 doubles, 21 home runs, 72 RBI, 63 runs scored, a .353 on-base percentage and .499 slugging percentage over 107 games between Class A Kannapolis and Class A Winston-Salem... Ranked among White Sox organizational leaders in home runs (1st), RBI (1st), total bases (T1st, 193), slugging percentage (4th), extra-base hits (T4th, 42), runs scored (T5th), average (7th) and hits (10th)...Was named a South Atlantic League midseason All-Star...Earned SAL Player of the Week honors for the period of 6/12-18, hitting .440 (11-25) with three homers and 10 RBI...Hit .318 (35-110) with eight home runs and 21 RBI against left-handers (.267/13/51 vs. righties) … went 34-117 (.291) with RISP and 6-16 (.375) with the bases loaded...Threw out 25.2 percent (27-107) of attempted baserunners... Began the season with the Intimidators before being promoted to the Dash on 6/21...Connected on a game-winning grand slam in the first inning on 6/24 vs. Buies Creek.
2016
Spent the entire season with Kannapolis, where he was named to the South Atlantic League midseason All-Star Team ... Batted over .300 in May (.307) and July (.308) ... Recorded a season-high four hits on 5/19 at Asheville ... Reached base safely in 13 straight games from 5/26-6/12 ... Entered the season rated by Baseball America as the Best Defensive Catcher in the White Sox system.
2015
Made his pro debut with the Arizona Rookie League White Sox, where he was named to the AZL postseason All-Star Team ... Led the AZL in extra-base hits (26), ranked second in doubles (17) and third in RBI (35) … led the team in doubles, ranked second in RBI and triples (5) and third in total bases (81), runs (33) and home runs (4) ... Batted .364 (8-22) against LHP and .318 (34-107) vs. RHP ... Reached base safely in 32 of his 35 games, including 16 straight from 7/28-8/26 ... Went 4-11 (.364) with a double, RBI and two walks in three postseason games for the AZL champions ... Was recommended/signed by George Kachigian.
