Segura returns after missing four games. Chris Herrmann got the start over Zunino
BALTIMORE — After missing the past four games because of a nasty right forearm infection, shortstop Jean Segura returned to the Mariners’ starting lineup on Monday to open a four-game series vs. the Orioles at Camden Yards.
Segura was back at his customary No. 2 spot in the order.
“He’s good to go tonight,” manager Scott Servais said. “It was different not having him out on the field for the last four days and I’m anxious to get him back.”
Segura had a large bandage on the infected area before batting practice. He then wore a protective sleeve over the forearm during the workout.
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The Mariners were 1-3 with Segura out of the lineup. He’s been the catalyst to their offense since Robinson Cano was suspended. He’s hitting .334 (99 for 296) on the season with an .838 on-base plus slugging percentage, 21 doubles, two triples, six homers and 44 RBI in 71 games this season. Since Cano has been out of the lineup, Segura is hitting .376 (50 for 133) with a .952 OPS, nine doubles, a triple, four homers and 17 RBI.
“As Nelson Cruz said, ‘if he would’ve just called me a week ago, none of this would’ve been a problem,” Servais said with a laugh. “Cruz said he sees a lot of that in the Dominican Republic.”
Mike Zunino was out of the starting lineup to open the series, which wasn’t typical. Chris Herrmann got the start instead. There were two reasons for Zunino’s absence.
The first reason is to get Herrmann more familiar with some of the starting pitchers since he didn’t participate in spring training with the Mariners.
“With Chris being a left-handed hitter, I don’t want him only catching or getting locked into being familiar with one or two of our starters. I kind of want him to work him through all of our starters. So as we go through the season if there are certain matchups (with opposing pitchers) and we want to get him in there for a day, he’s comfortable catching any of them.”
The second reason is that Zunino is a little dinged up. He took a ball off the fleshy part of his right hand below his thumb on a ball in the dirt from Nick Rumbelow on Friday night. So with Zunino hurting a little, Servais decided to use Herrmann.
“He had some swelling in that pad,” Servais said. “Catchers get that. He wanted to get in there yesterday and I don’t think it affected him that much. So he’ll be in there tomorrow.”
The absence has nothing to do with Zunino’s performance at the plate. He’s currently hitting .194 (35 for 180) with a .256 on-base percentage, a .417 slugging percentage, seven doubles, 11 homers and 25 RBI. He has struck out a whopping 79 times in 195 plate appearances.
Obviously Zunino is never going to be a .300 hitter. The Mariners expect him to strike out more than an average hitter. But he’s striking out in 40.5 percent of plate appearances, which is higher than the career 33 percent strikeout rate he had coming into the season.
“His swing decisions haven’t been as good or consistent in swinging at strikes or seeing the ball,” Servais said. “Last year, he was in such a good groove in the second half. Certainly the power numbers were there and you were seeing consistent at-bats. He was taking his walks and laying off more pitches out of the zone. He’s a little anxious like all guys are when they struggle a little bit. That’s the probably the biggest difference.”
Zunino is working hard with hitting coach Edgar Martinez to find that feeling from last season.
“Edgar and Mike are continuing to grind through and look at video,” Servais said. “They want to find the same mechanical feel he had last year, but he just hasn’t able to get that feel. When you have a swing like that, it has a lot of moving parts. It’s not just simply — spread out and make contact. There’s a lot of timing issues in play. When you have swing like that, there are going to be some peaks and valleys.”
