Mike Zunino is ready to take command.
He knows it. The Gators’ pitching staff knows it. And Florida coach Kevin O’Sullivan knows it.
The Gators enter the season ranked No. 1 by Baseball America, and the team that advanced to Omaha, Neb., last year for the College World Series boasts one of the nation’s best pitching staffs.
But all the praise and preseason accolades heaped upon the Gators pitchers mean nothing without a catcher who is up to the task of leading them. O’Sullivan knows that, too.
That’s where Zunino steps in.
“There’s certain things you have to do well to have a championship team,” O’Sullivan said. “And I know one of them is you better have a really good catcher, and he better have some leadership skills.”
O’Sullivan thinks Zunino has those skills and that his catcher has done a great job of displaying them so far.
As a coach known for his pitching insight, O’Sullivan said he relies on his catchers a great deal. This season, he plans to lean on the returning Freshman All-American even more to elevate and lead the Gators’ pitchers.
“I want to be able to take control of our pitching staff and help them out,” Zunino said.
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Zunino wasn’t like most other catchers last season.
He didn’t have to worry about calling the game from behind home plate.
O’Sullivan and the rest of the coaching staff didn’t want to overwhelm him by putting too much on his plate. Instead, they let him focus on adjusting to the college game, the pitchers and his offense.
But with a year under Zunino’s belt, O’Sullivan said he has the utmost confidence in his catcher and plans on giving him the added responsibility of calling pitches.
“I feel like I’ve been handed more the keys,” Zunino said. “I know [O’Sullivan]’s going to need to make pitch selections in certain situations, and I respect that. He has so much knowledge when it comes to that. I’m just lucky to be able to help manage that pitching staff.”
O’Sullivan called a lot of pitches from the dugout last year, but wants the catcher to call the game because he has a better view.
Zunino said the coach wants him to “have a little more freedom back there” this season.
O’Sullivan isn’t the only one entrusting Zunino with the duty of calling the games; the Gators’ highly touted pitching staff believes the sophomore is ready to handle that task.
The pitchers see all the work Zunino puts in during practices and the dedication he’s shown in the offseason.
Whether he’s in the bullpen racking up extra sessions with pitchers, or just going out in practice and catching for whoever wants to get some time in, Zunino’s work ethic has shown his teammates he’s prepared for the responsibilities placed on him.
“He has a good feel for the game this year,” sophomore right-handed pitcher Hudson Randall said. “He knows what Sully wants in the game plan. …We want to throw the same pitch in the same count in the same spot to the same batters, so we’re on the same page together.”
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Getting on the same page with the pitchers didn’t happen overnight.
It was a process for Zunino, who was tasked last year with learning the different styles of a 15-man pitching staff.
Instead of learning all of the pitchers, he is working with the team’s hurlers and only has to adjust to four new pitchers: the freshmen.
“All of our pitchers seemed to get better at some point ... whether it was sliders or changeups or better command,” Zunino said. “It’s nice to see them make adjustments, too, but it’s definitely easier only having to adjust to a few pitchers.”
Familiar with his battery mates’ pitches and not burdened with the learning curve of last season, Zunino now finds himself more comfortable and confident behind the plate.
And his teammates have taken notice.
Junior left-handed pitcher Alex Panteliodis easily discerned the change in Zunino’s presence behind home plate, but he’s hardly the only player to see the difference.
“He’s just like a second coach out there just talking to you, coaching you through it if you don’t know what to do,” said left-handed pitcher Brian Johnson, Zunino’s roommate. “You take his advice when he gives it to you because you know he knows the game really well.”
Not only has Zunino become more comfortable with his pitchers, but they have reciprocated. Randall said having Zunino back there again this year has boosted his confidence, and he has no problem throwing a ball in the dirt as an out pitch.
O’Sullivan said the 6-foot-2 sophomore has the same demeanor he did as a freshman: mild-mannered and confident. But the increased level of comfort has helped Zunino relate to the pitchers and make in-game corrections.
In the past, O’Sullivan might have had to come out to talk to the pitchers, but much like calling the pitches, the coach is entrusting his catcher to right the ship in certain situations.
“He knows every pitcher up and down, what they throw, what count they want to throw stuff in, what’s their out pitch, what’s their go-to pitch,” Randall said.
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Not only has Zunino gotten more comfortable behind the plate; the sophomore said he now feels more at ease in the batter’s box, too.
Instead of spending his offseason in a college summer league, Zunino took the summer off to work on his swing, taking as many reps as he could in hopes of improving on his .267 batting average.
He also used the time to fully recover from a thumb injury that hindered him toward the end of last season.
Zunino struggled on offense out of the gate, including an eight-game stretch during which he went 0 for 20 in the batter’s box.
“I was over-thinking it (last year),” Zunino said. “It was just one of those things where I felt a little bit rushed.”
“You could see him getting down,” Johnson said of Zunino’s hitless streak.
It was the worst rut of the catcher’s young career.
But Zunino didn’t let his struggles on offense affect him behind the plate, where he boasted a .995 fielding percentage, a quality his coach and his teammates value in their catcher.
“You always know [any struggles at the plate are] gone,” Johnson said. “It’s behind him. It’s fresh. It’s good.”
Zunino hopes to parlay the improvements he’s made this offseason into on-the-field results. Not just for himself, but for his team and the top-tier pitching staff O’Sullivan has entrusted him with.
And Zunino is ready to take command.
