PEORIA, Ariz. – Eddie Guardado stepped onto the rubber like it was the ninth inning of a close game in July.
He squeezed the rosin bag and spiked it so hard to the ground that a white cloud mushroomed around his feet. He spit into his glove and rubbed it, then he slammed the baseball into the glove and delivered a pitch to catcher Dan Wilson.
It was only a 30-pitch session in the bullpen – all fastballs and changeups – on the first day of spring training Thursday. But to Guardado, it was a huge step forward on his first trip back to the mound since October.
Guardado, the Mariners’ all-important closer, missed the second half of last season with a torn rotator cuff and is trying to come back after deciding to shun surgery that one doctor recommended.
So far, the shoulder is fine. The last five pitches he threw Thursday had some adrenaline behind them.
“I was pretty excited,” he said. “That was my first time throwing off the mound since I left here from instructional league (in October).
“The big question is how I feel tomorrow. I know I’m going to be a little sore because I hadn’t thrown off the mound before, but being sore and hurt are two different feelings.”
When Guardado feels this good, so do the Mariners.
His health could mean the difference between a stout bullpen and one that may force the team to juggle roles.
Besides the shoulder injury, Guardado played last year with a knee problem that was fixed with surgery.
“I feel like a new man,” he said. “My knee feels good and my shoulder feels good. The big question is when games start and I start pushing it more, and seeing how I feel the next day.”
Thursday, Guardado felt so good that he had a little fun when he came off the mound.
Surrounded by pitching coach Bryan Price and some team trainers, Guardado feigned a look of pain and screamed, “Anybody got some ice?”
They all knew he was kidding.
The boss speaks: When manager Mike Hargrove talked with the pitchers and catchers before Thursday’s workout, he made it clear what he expects.
“He said, ‘This is who I am, this is what you’re going to get and if you don’t like it, you’re out of here,’ ” Guardado said. “That’s great. We’re here to win and it starts today.”
Hargrove wouldn’t discuss specifics of his talk with the players.
“But in general terms, I told them to show up on time, be professional and bust their butts,” Hargrove said. “I expect us to do things that give us a chance to win. At the end of the day, you want to go into the seventh, eighth, ninth innings having a chance to win. When you can bring the tying or winning run to the plate and have a chance to win, if you have the talent and do things right, then things will be good.”
The wet look: All is right with Clint Nageotte again. He broke a sweat before he even took the mound Thursday, and his back feels good.
“I’ve been looking forward to this day,” said Nageotte, one of Seattle’s top pitching prospects before he went 1-6 with a 7.36 ERA last year in Seattle. “I can put last year behind me.”
Nageotte suffered back spasms in late August and spent the final month of the season on the disabled list. He said it took two months of rest and therapy in the offseason before his back recovered, but he’s at spring training feeling strong.
Nageotte said he’s also more at ease this year after his first big-league experience last year, even though much of it turned out bad.
“Everything that happened last year, I try to turn into a positive, even the things that didn’t go my way,” he said. “I look at the things I did right and the things I could have done differently and try to learn from them all.”
As for the sweating, that’ll never change. Nageotte was a soppy mess when he pitched last year, with sweat pouring off the bill of his cap and down his face.
“I can break a sweat when I’m sleeping,” he said.
New pitcher: The Mariners acquired the rights Thursday to pitcher Jorge Campillo of the Mexico City Tigres and hope to have him working out in Peoria soon. He must deal with visa issues before he’s allowed to sign a contract.
Campillo, a 26-year-old right-hander, is a curveball-changeup pitcher who the M’s would like to see compete for a spot at the back end of the starting rotation.
“From what I know, he’s got a good change of speeds, locates well and competes well,” pitching coach Bryan Price said.
Campillo has pitched eight years in the Mexico League, with a 45-29 record and a 4.59 career ERA.
He’ll be placed on the 40-man roster, forcing the Mariners to make a roster move.
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