Manager John McLaren and the Mariners have spent the past few weeks assembling their coaching staff for 2008, and when the announcement is made later today, that staff will have an obvious personality.
The new coaches will be an assembly of hardened veteran baseball men with a track record of getting the most out of their players.
Former Cubs and Padres manager Jim Riggleman will be the bench coach. Former Yankees pitcher and pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre will fill that role with the Mariners. Ex-Mariner Norm Charlton will be the bullpen coach. Former Nationals bench coach Eddie Rodriguez, who this year managed the Mariners’ Class AA team at West Tennessee, will be first-base coach.
Larry Bowa is lined up as third-base coach but that’s still up in the air as he deals with a personal issue. Bowa was the Mariners’ third-base coach in 2000 and spent the past two seasons in that job with the Yankees.
The addition of Stottlemyre could have a definite positive impact, says one former pitcher who worked with him.
“You know the old E.F. Hutton commercial, when they say ‘When E.F. Hutton speaks, everybody listens?’” said Jeff Nelson, who won four World Series rings with the Yankees. “That’s basically the way it is with Mel.”
Nelson says Stottlemyre will stress the fastball to the pitching staff. That should be a big help for a youngster like Felix Hernandez, who has a 97 mph fastball but tended to rely too much on his breaking pitches last year.
“He’s a guy who will force them to go to their strengths. When I was pitching, I had a 94 mph fastball but he was always saying I threw my slider too much. Guys like Felix and (Miguel) Batista have a good fastball and Mel will make them use it. Especially Felix. During the season he got away from it. That pitch is Felix’s strength.”
Bowa, if he joins the staff, could have a similar impact with young second baseman Jose Lopez, who suffered bouts of inconsistency. Bowa is an intense, grizzled veteran who would definitely get Lopez’s attention and keep it.
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