The Seattle Times · Feb 2, 2017
Mariners 2017 spring position preview: Is this the year that Mike Zunino can put it all together?
Mariners catcher Mike Zunino puts the M’s ahead of the Yankees in the sixth inning with a homer. (Ken Lambert / The Seattle Times)The Mariners experienced some improvement at the catching position in the 2016 season. Then again, that was likely to happen considering on how truly awful the production was in 2015.
But in terms of Fangraphs WAR, the 2017 group produced a 2.5 Wins Above Replacement (WAR) last season, which was fifth overall in the American League. That positive number stems largely from positive contributions on defense. But from an offensive standpoint, Seattle experienced improvement in batting average, on-base percentage and slugging.