Fastball

Former Seattle Mariners, Tampa Bay Rays' Catcher Announces Retirement From Baseball

Mike Zunino, who spent 11 years in the big leagues with the Seattle Mariners, Tampa Bay Rays and Cleveland Guardians announced his retirement on Wednesday. The one-time All-Star hit 149 career homers and was the No. 3 pick in the MLB Draft.

Brady Farkas

Former Seattle Mariners, Tampa Bay Rays' Catcher Announces Retirement From Baseball
Former Seattle Mariners, Tampa Bay Rays' Catcher Announces Retirement From Baseball /
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Former All-Star catcher Mike Zunino announced his retirement from baseball on Wednesday afternoon.

The former No. 3 pick in the MLB Draft, Zunino spent 11 years in the big leagues with the Seattle Mariners, Tampa Bay Rays and Cleveland Guardians.

Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times got the announcement on social media from Zunino's agency:

Former #Rays, #Mariners and #Guardians C Mike Zunino has retired. News was shared by his agency, Wasserman Baseball, in an IG post.

Zunino made his major league debut with the Mariners in the 2013 season and immediately became a regular for the M's. He was known for his prodigious power and hit more than 20 homers three times out of six seasons with Seattle. He hit a career-high 33 homers in 2021 with the Rays, the same season in which he made the All-Star Game. Zunino ended up spending four years in Tampa. 

As great as his power was, Zunino struggled to become a consistent hitter at the plate. A lifetime .199 hitter, he had six seasons in which he hit under .200. He had a career .271 on-base percentage and struck out more than 130 times in a season in five different seasons.

Zunino played 42 games with the Guardians last season before being let go. He was unable to find a place to latch on after that stint, or again this offseason.

The former University of Florida star will walk away from baseball at the age of 32.

Congratulations on a great career, Mike Zunino!

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Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady. 

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