FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) -It was 14 years and 50 pounds ago when Gregg Zaun broke into the majors with the Baltimore Orioles.
Back then, Zaun played behind Chris Hoiles and saw limited action. Now, after signing during the offseason as a free agent, he is poised to be Baltimore’s opening-day catcher.
How long Zaun remains the starter depends heavily upon when the Orioles summon top-notch prospect Matt Wieters from the minors and put him behind the plate. That may happen as soon as May, perhaps June, but Zaun is prepared for the inevitable.
“I know it’s going to happen at some point. How long before his arrival? I don’t know,” he said. “Maybe some of that has to do with how I play and how pitchers respond to me as a leader out there on the field.”
Wieters is 22 years old, and Zaun is 37. But he insists it’s a very young 37.
k, man, he’s got to be on the downturn. But the first eight years of my career, I didn’t play a whole lot. I don’t have the mileage on my body that other 37-year-old catchers do,” Zaun said. “I didn’t start catching 100 games a year until five years ago. So I have the benefit of 14 seasons of experience with only five years of road mileage on my body. And I take very good care of myself.”
Zaun will turn 38 on April 14, and he intends to continue well into his 40s.
“I want to play until absolutely no team in the big leagues will offer me a job anymore,” he said. “If I can be the Julio Franco of catching, that would be super for me. If I could still be playing major league baseball in 10 years, I would.”
The 1995 Orioles media guide generously listed Zaun at 170 pounds. Now he’s around 220, most of it muscle.
“My lifestyle has changed quite a bit in the last five or six years. I’m dedicated to my fitness level, spend a lot of time during the offseason in the weight room,” he said. “I’ve put in four or five days a week in the gym, two hours at a time. I know how important it is.”
No. 1 catcher.
He averaged 107 games over the next four seasons, but declared for free agency last November after the Blue Jays told him he would be a backup. Zaun checked his options and chose Baltimore, mainly because the Orioles were the only team willing to use him as a starter.
“It’s been a very comfortable transition back into the Oriole uniform,” Zaun said. “The thing that was huge for me is that I was a priority for them this season. They made it clear that I was their No. 1 choice as far as coming in and starting. Plus, I get to go back to Baltimore, be near my uncle, great city, great ballpark.”
Zaun’s uncle is former Orioles catcher Rick Dempsey, now an instructor at camp. Dempsey remembers when Zaun was a rookie in 1995, and is proud of how his nephew improved over the years.
“He had a lot of adversity early in his career and he fought through that and made his way back to the leagues and became a better catcher,” Dempsey said. “He makes an excellent target, he frames pitches well, he does a lot of the little things that catchers do, especially when it comes to blocking the plate. Things like that don’t show up in the box score, but when you play with a guy like that you realize the outs he saves you.”
to manager Dave Trembley’s office around 7 a.m. to discuss the progress of Baltimore’s young pitching staff.
“He knows that his time is running out, and he wants to contribute to the present and future success of the organization. That’s the kind of guy who is unselfish,” Trembley said. “He said to me, ‘Will you get mad if I snap at a guy? It’s not acceptable if you sit in the clubhouse after you lost a game and act like nothing is wrong.’ That’s another reason we got him. There are so many small things that go into winning, and that’s another piece of the puzzle that we found.”
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