Mariners' Sucre to miss 6 months after surgery

The Seattle Mariners' catching depth took a major blow on Thursday, when it was announced that backstop Jesus Sucre would miss six months following surgery on a fractured fibula.

Sucre broke his leg during winter ball in Venezuela earlier this month.

Initial reports indicated the 27-year-old would miss six weeks, but things have definitely changed in his estimated recovery time.

After appearing in 50 games for the Mariners last season, Sucre was likely to begin the upcoming campaign in Triple-A along with Mike Zunino, after Seattle acquired catchers Chris Iannetta and Steve Clevenger in the offseason.

The soft-hitting Sucre slashed .157/.195/.228 with one home run and seven RBIs in 2015.

Across three big-league seasons, the Venezuelan owns a .178/.206/.229 hitting line, but his strength comes behind the plate defensively, where he threw out 50 percent of base runners who attempted to steal on him last season.