University of Florida junior catcher Mike
Zunino (Cape Coral, Fla.) was selected in the first round of the 2012 Major
League Baseball Draft on Monday night by the Seattle Mariners. Chosen third
overall, Zunino is the first Gator taken in the opening round since Matt
LaPorta was picked seventh by the Milwaukee Brewers in 2007. Since the Draft's
inception in 1965, this marks the 13th time in school history that a UF player
has been a first-round choice and Zunino becomes the highest player chosen in
school history.
Earlier
today, Zunino was named one of the three finalists for the 2012 Johnny Bench
Award presented by BaseballSavings.com. A first-team Louisville Slugger
All-American who is also a semifinalist for the Dick Howser Trophy and the
Golden Spikes Award, he leads the Gators in total bases (154), RBI (60),
doubles (27), homers (18), sacrifice flies (9) and slugging percentage (.667).
A two-time first-team All-SEC recipient and two-time member of the league’s
All-Defensive Team who is hitting .316, Zunino has registered a .994 fielding
percentage, with three errors in 474 chances, and has thrown out almost a third
of the runners who have attempted to steal on him.
Over the weekend, Zunino was voted to the
NCAA Gainesville Regional All-Tournament Team for the third-consecutive season
after belting homers in consecutive games against No. 24 Georgia Tech as the
top-ranked Gators (45-18) advanced to Super Regionals for the fourth-straight
campaign.
In 2011, he became just the second Gator to
be voted the SEC Player of the Year, as LaPorta had been recognized in 2005 and
2007. One of the three finalists for the Johnny Bench Award, Zunino was chosen
as a first-team All-American by the ABCA, Baseball America and Perfect Game,
earned second-team honors from Louisville Slugger and was a third-team choice
by the NCBWA. He was also first-team All-SEC and a member of the SEC
All-Defensive Team.
He hit a team-best .371 and led the SEC in
total bases (178), hits (98), runs (75), doubles (23, tied with teammate Preston
Tucker) and homers (19) in helping the Gators finish as the national
runner-up following their second-consecutive trip to the NCAA College World
Series for the first time in school history. Zunino also paced UF’s offense in
slugging percentage (.674), on-base percentage (.442), multiple-hit games (29)
and multi-RBI games (19, tied with Tucker) and had career-highs in RBI (67) and
walks (32). The catcher batted .422 in SEC play, with 36 runs, 33 RBI, 14
doubles and eight homers.
As a rookie in 2010, Zunino was chosen to
Baseball America’s Freshman All-America Team and was a member of
the SEC’s All-Freshman Team. He started 51 games behind the plate and one as
the designated hitter and hit .267 with 41 RBI, 31 runs, nine homers and seven
doubles in 55 games played as the Gators made their first CWS appearance since
2005. He was 8-for-11 on the basepaths, caught 14-of-38 runners attempting to
steal and had three pickoffs.
