The Cleveland Guardians designated catcher Mike Zunino for assignment prior to Friday night's game against the Arizona Diamondbacks
The Guardians also scratched right-hander Triston McKenzie from his scheduled start due to a sore pitching elbow
Right-hander Touki Toussaint was promoted from Triple-A Columbus to make the start.
Zunino, 32, joined the Guardians in the offseason but struggled mightily. He batted .177 with three homers and 11 RBIs in 42 games
The 11-year-veteran has always been known as a better defender than hitter, but even that part of his game dropped in Cleveland. Zunino threw out just 8 of 48 runners (16.7 percent) attempting to steal and leads the majors with five passed balls. He also made three errors.
Zunino has a .199 career batting average with 149 homers and 372 RBIs in 892 games with the Seattle Mariners (2013-18), Tampa Bay Rays (2019-22) and Guardians. He was an All-Star for the Rays in 2021 when he belted a career-high 33 homers
McKenzie, 25, is 0-1 with a 4.50 ERA in two starts this season. He missed the first two months of the season due to an injury to his pitching shoulder.
Toussaint, 26, is 2-1 with a 4.54 ERA in 20 appearances (one start) at Columbus. He is 10-7 with a 5.34 ERA in 57 major league appearances (23 starts) for the Atlanta Braves (2018-21) and Los Angeles Angels (2022).
--Field Level Media