After Jake Woods’ miserable experience in 2007, when he spent most of the season at Class AAA Tacoma thinking he should have been with the Mariners, he decided to take a different mental approach this year.
“I just went out there and didn’t worry about what’s going on up there,” he said. “I didn’t pay attention. I had a job to do and worried about that.”
That’s why the phone call Woods got Saturday morning surprised him. It was Tacoma manager Daren Brown.
“When you get a call like that, they’ve either called you up, released you or traded you,” Woods said. “I knew he wasn’t calling to invite me to breakfast.”
It was a callup. Woods replaces left-handed reliever Arthur Rhodes, who the Mariners traded Thursday to the Florida Marlins. Manager Jim Riggleman said Woods would pitch in long relief.
“I’ll do whatever you want,” Woods said. “If you want me to clean shoes, I’ll clean shoes.”
Woods admitted he let his unhappiness affect his pitching last year, when he went 5-7 with a 6.91 ERA for Tacoma. He thought he belonged in Seattle after going 7-4 with a 4.20 ERA for the Mariners in 2006.
This year, he decided to clear his head of any hopes, aspirations or frustrations about returning to the big leagues, and it seemed to help. He went 6-1 with a 4.08 ERA and a save in 32 games for the Rainiers.
“I took a different look at the game and basically just said I’m not going to worry about what’s going on up there,” Woods said. “I’m just not even going to pay attention. I’m going to do … the best I can and whatever happens happens. It’s out of my hands.”
Jimenez vs. left-handers: With the loss of Rhodes, Cesar Jimenez has taken over the Mariners’ left-handed specialist role in the bullpen.
Jimenez isn’t a classic lefty-on-lefty reliever because his changeup is his best pitch and it’s more effective against right-handed hitters. Entering Saturday, he’d held right-handers to a .133 average while left-handers had batted .227 against him.
“That wasn’t a priority when he came here,” Riggleman said. “We just wanted him to get people out, not necessarily left-handers. It just so happened he got off to a real good start against left-handers.”
Riggleman cautioned that while Jimenez has pitched well against lefties, it’s a small sampling. More impressive, Riggleman said, is Jimenez’s ability to pitch day after day.
“We’ve thrown him four out of five days,” he said. “That’s the quality that you need to have. You’ve got to have some guys who can take the ball often.”
Of note: Shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt, who’s had a sore right elbow, didn’t start for a fourth straight game although Riggleman expects him to be ready today. … Riggleman has been pleased with Bryan LaHair’s hitting _ a .333 average and two home runs since he was called up July 18 _ but cautions that it’s still early. “He’s selecting good pitches to hit but it’s too small of a sample to say what he’s doing right,” Riggleman said. … Mike Morse, out for the season since separating his left shoulder on April 13, played catch and took batting practice Saturday for the first time since the injury. He took 25 swings in the indoor batting cage.
Kirby Arnold, Herald Writer
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