Uh-oh Zunino

Jul 25, 2013; Seattle, WA, USA; Seattle Mariners catcher Mike Zunino (3) warms up prior to the game against the Minnesota Twins at Safeco Field. Mandatory Credit: Steven Bisig-USA TODAY Sports

Update: as of July 26, 2o13 at 6 pm, the Mariners signing of Humberto Quintero is official. He will be joining the team in Seattle for tonight’s game against the Twins. 

If you haven’t already heard, bad news bears have arrived behind the dish for the Seattle Mariners.

The new young backstop, Mike Zunino, has been looking great behind the dish since being called up a few weeks ago. However, the Mariners announced today that he has been put on the 15-day DL with a broken hamate bone in his left hand/wrist. He was taken out in the 4th last night, after getting hit in that same wrist. It had been hit the night previous, and yesterday the Mariners said the X-rays were negative.

Nonetheless Zunino is expected to be out for around 6 weeks. It has been announced by a number of writers on Twitter that Humberto Quintero, a veteran catcher, has been signed by the M’s and is on his way to Seattle. As Dave Cameron tweets: “I watched Humberto Quintero play a lot in the minors back in the day. A lot of fun behind the dish. Not as much fun at it.”

So it looks like we’ve got two Henry Blanco’s playing catcher for the foreseeable future. This’ll be interesting.

And, just for kicks, here is the list of all the catchers that have started for the Mariners this year:

Jesus Montero, Kelly Schoppach, Jesus Sucre, Brandon Bantz, Mike Zunino, Henry Blanco, and soon to be Humberto Quintero. There are some phenomenal names on that list. Not great players necessary, but great names.

Let’s hope this hot-streak can continue without Big-Z as a backstop and signal caller.