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Highlights from the Mariners’ pre-spring training luncheon

Published 1:54 pm Thursday, January 26, 2017

By Nick Patterson Herald Writer

The Seattle Mariners held their pre-spring training media luncheon Thursday morning at Safeco Field with a number of speakers, including general manager Jerry Dipoto and manager Scott Servais. Here’s some highlights from the event:

– The biggest highlight for me came shortly after Dipoto left the stage. Dipoto has been something of a transaction fiend since taking over as GM prior to last season, and in Tuesday’s introductions Mariners senior director of baseball information Tim Hevly pointed out that over the past two offseasons Dipoto made 35 trades, the most in the majors.

Dipoto was followed on stage by Servais, who spoke for about 20 minutes. After Servais was done Hevly said it had been a mistake to let Dipoto off the stage, because during those 20 minutes while Servais was speaking Dipoto made yet another roster move, claiming catcher Tuffy Gosewisch off waivers from the Atlanta Braves and designating pitcher Jonathan Aro for assignment. Twenty minutes! If that wasn’t the most Jerry Dipoto moment of the Mariners’ offseason, I don’t know what was.

– There was a lot of talk about ace pitcher Felix Hernandez and his much-publicized offseason workout program.

There are concerns about the possibility that Hernandez’s time as one of baseball’s elite pitchers is over, based both on his stats from last season and his steadily declining velocity. However, Dipoto insisted that the “reports of the demise of Felix Hernandez are greatly exaggerated.” Dipoto talked about how the calf injury Hernandez suffered last season was a big factor. He did mention how the fact Hernandez being over 30 now means it takes that much more work to stay in shape, but the Mariners seem confident Hernandez will rebound. He’s been declared fully recovered from the calf injury, and he will be Seattle’s opening-day starter.

– During a break in the program the Mariners showed a video illustrating how the organization’s commitment to controlling the zone (C the Z) played out last season. They used a simple metric called strike-zone differential, in which they added together the team’s strikeouts by pitchers and walks by batters, and compared them to the team’s walks by pitchers and strikeouts by batters. I don’t remember the exact numbers, but Seattle had a negative strike-zone differential in 2015 and a positive number in 2016. They also displayed a chart that showed pretty much all the teams with the best strike-zone differential totals last season made the playoffs. Director of player development Andy McKay went on to say the Mariners’ farm system had the best strike-zone differential among all organizations last season. So C the Z has taken hold.

– One of the lower-key acquisitions during the offseason was outfielder Mitch Haniger, who was included in the blockbuster deal for shortstop Jean Segura that sent pitcher Taijuan Walker and shortstop Ketel Marte to the Arizona Diamondbacks. It was interesting to hear Dipoto say that Haniger, by any metric, was the best hitter in the minors last season. Haniger is slated to play right field for Seattle this season.

– Servais said the team will try new left fielder Jarrod Dyson in the leadoff spot during spring training. Dyson, acquired from the Kansas City Royals, is a speedster who hasn’t typically had the on-base percentage to warrant a spot at the top of the order. But Dyson saw his OBP tick up to .340 last season. Dyson in the leadoff spot would put Segura in the No. 2 hole.

– One of the wrinkles that came with new management last season was the adoption of radical shifting in the field on defense. Both Dipoto and Servais said the team would continue with the strategy, saying that after a slow start the Mariners actually gained the most benefit from defensive shifting of any team in the majors. It took the pitchers some time to accept the shifting, especially after it backfired on occasion early in the year.

– Two players on the 40-man roster had offseason surgeries. Relief pitchers Steve Cishek had surgery to repair a labral tear in his left hip, and fellow reliever Tony Zych had right shoulder biceps tendon debridement. Both will be re-evaluated at spring training, at which time more will be determined about their timetables for return.

– Finally, Seattle’s first-round pick in the 2016 draft, outfielder Kyle Lewis, is targeting a mid-season return from the major knee injury he suffered last season while playing for the Everett AquaSox. Lewis is currently rehabbing the injury in Peoria, Ariz., with McKay saying Lewis is doing well. McKay said the goal was for Lewis to join a full-season minor-league team somewhere around the All-Star break.

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