photo: Guillermo Zuniga (Tulsa Drillers)
St. Louis Cardinals press release
The St. Louis Cardinals announced today (Tuesday, December 6) that they signed free agent right-handed pitcher Guillermo Zuniga to a Major League contract for the 2023 season. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Zuniga, 24, previously split his six-year minor league career between the Atlanta Braves (2016-17) and Los Angeles Dodgers (2018-22) organizations, most recently at Double-A Tulsa in 2022 where he ranked among Texas League leaders in games (48, 2nd) and saves (11, T-3rd).
The 6-foot-5, 230 lb. Colombia native was a combined 11-6 with a 4.10 ERA (90.0 IP) and 115 strikeouts over 73 relief appearances at Tulsa over the 2021-22 seasons. Over Zuniga’s career, the right-hander has appeared in 131 games (13 starts), recorded a 10.3 strikeout/9 IP ratio, and converted 20 saves.
The addition of Zuniga brings the Cardinals 40-player roster to 38 players.
Brian Walton’s take
The Cardinals have to be very familiar with Zuniga, as Double-A Springfield and Tulsa play in the same division of the Texas League.
Why they gave an unproven reliever a 40-man roster spot given he has never played above Double-A is a bit of an unanswered question. Perhaps they felt they needed to do so to secure his services.
On the positive side, Zuniga will have all three minor league option years for the Cardinals to potentially use to further his development, as this is his first time on a 40-man.
Zuniga opened his career as a signee of the Atlanta Braves in July 2016 but was awarded free agency following the 2017 season while still in rookie ball. He was one of 12 Braves players made free agents by Major League Baseball as part of the punishments doled out to Atlanta for numerous signing rules violations in the international market.
Zuniga signed with the Dodgers for $200,000 heading into 2018 and spent the next five years in their system, reaching minor league free agency this past fall. He has never been a league all-star or received Player of the Week or Month recognition during his career to date.
For 2022, Zuniga was the 45th-ranked prospect in the Dodgers system, according to Fangraphs. At Prospects1500, he was 33rd this season.
Two years ago, Prospects Live summarized their 30 scouting grade (Up/Down Emergency Depth) for Zuniga:
“Big reliever with an average fastball and a solid slider. Stuff and top end velo is there (touches 96), but lack of consistency and control limit the profile in a big way. There’s a chance that some optimization will unlock another level, he already looked much better after moving to the pen, but it’s unlikely to change the profile much.”
In the two seasons since that assessment, the needed consistency and control have remained elusive.
In 2022, Zuniga walked a career-high 4.94 batters per nine innings, up from 3.31 during his first Double-A season. In the same time frame, his strikeout rate fell from 12.48 to 10.87 per nine. His 2022 FIP was 5.95, though he did convert 11 of 12 save opportunities presented to him.
Perhaps the Cardinals believe they can unlock Zuniga’s potential.
Note: Based on his 2022 season-ending Double-A assignment, he will appear on the Springfield roster here at The Cardinal Nation.
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