In his first game of the season, Mike Zunino homered twice.
Seattle sent the former Florida catcher to Triple-A Tacoma last August in hopes of taking pressure off the former first-round pick and giving him time to find a rhythm at the plate.
Before he was demoted, Zunino had batted .174 in his last 112 games.
His time in the minors brought him out of his funk.
After the Mariners’ backup catcher Steve Clevenger suffered a hand injury last week, Seattle called up Zunino, who went 2-for-4 with two home runs in the Mariners’ 12-6 win over Baltimore on Saturday.
“It’s not easy to go back to the minor leagues and work on things and have a good attitude about it,” Seattle manager Scott Servais told the Associated Press after the Mariners’ win. “Happy for him and a big night no doubt. Wasn’t expecting two home runs but we’ll take it.”
One former Gator struggling, another surging in Astros minor league system:
Even when he was playing for Florida, Nolan Fontana never had a problem reaching base. It was one of the main reasons the Houston Astros took him with the 61st pick in the 2012 MLB Draft.
Fontana, who has never made it to the majors, has a career on-base percentage of .388 in the Astros’ minor league system. That, along with solid defense, has earned him a spot on Houston’s 40-man roster.
This season, though, his on-base percentage plummeted by over .100 points to .269 while playing for the Triple-A Fresno Grizzlies.
Meanwhile, his one-time UF teammate and Fresno outfielder Preston Tucker has played well in Triple-A since being sent down from the majors on May 16.
Tucker is hitting .296 with seven home runs and 22 RBIs in 39 games, accentuated by a three-home run, five-hit and eight-RBI performance against the Salt Lake Bees on June 30.
Several Florida draft picks ink deals:
Multiple Florida baseball players have signed deals with the teams who selected them in the 2016 MLB Draft including Peter Alonso, who agreed to a $909,200 contract with the New York Mets last Wednesday, according to MLB.com’s Jim Callis.
A.J. Puk, the No. 6 overall pick in the draft, also signed his rookie deal. According to multiple reports, the former Florida pitcher signed a contract worth $4,096,200 last Thursday.
Florida’s other first-round selection, Dane Dunning, signed a deal with the Washington Nationals worth $2,000,000.
Outfielder Buddy Reed agreed to a $1,075,000 deal with San Diego.
One pick before him at No. 47, the Athletics selected Florida pitcher Logan Shore. The A’s inked him to a $1,500,000 deal.
Rounding out the Gators selected in the top 100 overall picks, Shaun Anderson was taken 88th by the Cincinnati Reds and signed for $700,000.
All contract figures were taken from MLB.com’s “2016 Draft: Signing and Bonus Tracker.”
A.J. Puk pitches during Florida's 7-2 loss to Miami on Feb. 21, 2015, at McKethan Stadium.
