Seattle Mariners

The Mariners officially optioned catcher Jesus Montero to Triple-A Tacoma Thursday. A corresponding move isn't expected to be made until Friday, but Seattle is expected to promote Tacoma backup catcher Jesus Sucre, as first reported by The News Tribune.

In 101 at-bats prior to his Thursday demotion, Mariners catcher Jesus Montero hit .208 with three home runs and one double.

This was coming on the heels of an encouraging 2012 in which he hit .260 with 15 home runs and 20 doubles. And all of that came off a minor-league career which saw the 23-year-old hit .308, with four 17-plus home run campaigns over five seasons. 

Montero can hit, but he has proven to be a pretty bad catcher. So he'll learn first base down on the farm, a process that may not take too long considering this is not a foreign idea to him. We know Montero can hit -- his 2013 line was doomed thanks to spotty playing time and repeated failures and stresses behind the plate. With the burden of having to call games and handle a staff now gone, Montero has been freed to simply take grounders and regain his offensive potential. 

Granted, Montero doesn't even have a spot at DH or first base open for him once he does come around. But injuries (and slumps) can change things on a daily basis. If you absolutely need a replacement, we offered up some suggestions on Fantasy Baseball Today. I am holding Montero in 14-team-and-deeper Roto formats. I may even trade for him or scoop him off the discard pile in some leagues. Montero can hit, and it shouldn't be too long (mid-July?) until he pops back up with a far sunnier outlook. 

Even with the news Mariners catcher Jesus Montero is being demoted to the minors, prospect Mike Zunino is expected to remain with Triple-A Tacoma, according to The News Tribune. Tacoma backup catcher Jesus Sucre is being promoted to take Montero's roster spot.

Following a torrid start, Zunino has cooled off considerably for Tacoma, seeing his batting average plummet to .220. The News Tribune said Zunino is no longer seeing a steady diet of fastballs inside the strike zone and has struggled with breaking and offspeed pitches, as well elevated fastballs with two strikes. It signals Zunino isn't ready to play regularly at the major-league level yet.

The Mariners are expected to demote catcher Jesus Montero to Triple-A Tacoma, according to The News Tribune, which means Kelly Shoppach takes over as the starting catcher. Jesus Sucre is being recalled from Tacoma to be the backup catcher.

Shoppach, who has started the last three games at catcher, is batting .229 through 23 games. In fact, he's batting .163 (7 for 43) in his last 13 games.

The Mariners are expected to promote Triple-A Tacoma catcher Jesus Sucre to take the roster spot of Jesus Montero, who is being demoted to Tacoma following a slow start, according to The News Tribune.

Sucre, who has been backing up prospect Mike Zunino at Tacoma, is batting .302 with one double and five RBI in 14 games.

Sucre is expected to back up catcher Kelly Shoppach for the Mariners.