Much like every other rule of thumb, that exact logic doesn’t exactly apply in Zunino’s case. In order to maximize his power, the backstop completely sells out for extra-base hits and puts an extreme number of fly balls into play. Fly balls become hits at a lower rate than other kinds of batted balls, meaning that his low BABIP may not have been a function of bad luck after all.
The Rays declined to utilize the club option for 2021 written into Zunino’s contract, meaning he’s a free agent and will be searching for a new home in what will perhaps be the worst winter to be a free agent in this era of baseball history.
His eventual fate will be rather instructive to those looking for an insight into modern baseball’s opinion toward players with an extreme delta between strengths and weaknesses. Zunino is still agile behind the plate and can still punish mistake pitches, which might seem attractive at an offensively anemic position. While his postseason performance this time around may have been a forgettable one, there’s still plenty of time for the 29-year-old to replace it with a better memory down the road.
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