Even to the casual Mariners fan, the story of Mike Zunino is well-known. Sent to the minor leagues on May 5 after starting the season with an abysmal .167/.250/.236 slash, Zunino went to work and completely reworked his swing.
He returned to the Major Leagues on May 23 a proceeded to post a .270/.349/.571 line in the last 100 games of 2017. Along with the impressive ratio’s, Zunino bashed 25 homers and 20 doubles in that stretch. The 25 homers ranked as 3rd most among catchers in all of baseball, as did his whopping 3.6 fWAR.