原标题： Mike Zunino is embracing his role as mentor while on the DL—and repaying an old debt By Corey Brock Apr 2, 2018 From the time Mike Zunino suffered a strained left oblique taking a swing Wednesday, nearly all of the catcher's attention has been on getting healthy so that his 10-day stint on the disabled list doesn’t sideline him longer. But that doesn’t mean Zunino intends to spend his entire DL stint sequestered in the training room getting treatment as his teammates move forward into the regular season without him. No, Zunino has also set his sights on another pursuit: Helping the two catchers remaining on the roster, Mike Marjama and David Freitas, with anything and everything as they team up to fill the immense void left by Zunino’s absence. Meet Mike Zunino, mentor. In Zunino’s mind, this is essentially repaying an old debt. While he expressed his disappointment with landing on the DL to begin the season, his eyes lit up when he talked about the opportunity to help Marjama and Freitas. “I had countless veteran guys who really showed me a lot,” Zunino said. “I tried to learn from them every day. I was very grateful those guys were able to share what they knew. That’s what I want to do. Hopefully, I’ll be able to make that transition easier for these guys.” For Zunino, it was Henry Blanco in 2013, John Buck in 2014 and Carlos Ruiz a year ago, who helped shape him. He didn’t just sit, watch and listen to these veterans. He asked questions, a lot of them. He took mental notes. Heck, often he took actual notes. Along the way, Zunino shaped a blueprint for how he’d like to pass the same information down to other catchers. He just probably didn’t intend on imparting this information two games into the regular season. Zunino’s first lesson? Try to keep things simple, and don’t let yourself get buried by an avalanche of video work, spray charts and analytics. “The information… it builds up quicker than people understand. Every three days, you have a different series, different teams, different hitters to learn. It’s a ton of stuff that you can get overwhelmed with,” Zunino said. That’s why Seattle manager Scott Servais said the Mariners will be careful not to put too much on Marjama or Freitas while waiting for Zunino to rejoin the team during its upcoming eight-game road trip next week. Marjama, who caught James Paxton on Saturday, figures to get most of the starts in Zunino’s absence. He will have his hands full, if for no other reason that he has not had a lot of experience catching this pitching staff aside from spring training. “We have to pick and choose how much information we’re going to give him. We don’t have to overload him,” Servais said. “He still needs to go out and play. We don’t want to give them too much (information) and bog him down. There may be some growing pains along the way.” One of those moments came during Thursday’s 2-1 victory over the Indians. In the second inning – and remember, this was only Marjama’s third career start – Edwin Encarnación’s swing caught Marjama’s glove hand flush on. He was called for catcher interference, which hurt every bit as much as his aching hand. “He was really amped up. You start creeping and reaching for balls more than you normally would do because of the excitement,” Servais said. But Marjama was praised by Servais and pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre for how well he handled catching Félix Hernández on Opening Day, both in terms of pitch-calling and sequencing and for not letting the moment get to him. Stottlemyre went as far to say that Marjama “earned the respect of the pitching staff” by his performance on Thursday. Servais, who spent a majority of his 11-year big league career either as a backup catcher or in a platoon role, intends on sharing any relatable lessons he has with Marjama and Freitas. And now Marjama and Freitas have Zunino, who said that any advice he provides will always be followed with this edict: Have fun and compete. “The biggest message I have gotten from a lot of other guys is just to enjoy this,” Zunino said. “We put so much time into watching film and studying hitters, that when the game starts, you have to go with what you feel. “It’s easy to get caught up in a lot of different things as a younger player and get overwhelmed by it all. And so when you get into the game, you start to question yourself, your pitch-calling, the execution.” Marjama does not sound like someone who gets spooked easily. Remember just how well he handled himself on the big stage Thursday, catching nine innings in the opener, which was played before the biggest crowd in regular-season history at Safeco Field. Preparation runs in his blood. It what makes him tick. He came in on Friday’ s off day to talk with Paxton in advance of Saturday’s start. The two did met up again before Saturday’s game, going over the game plan with Stottlemyre. “There’s a ton of information, and it’s easy to get confused by it,” Marjama said. “(The Mariners) have done a good job of condensing everything. But nothing changes in terms of our preparation. You have to be ready every day.” Marjama has shown he's not daunted by the task — and Zunino will be there to help him along the way. --

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