PEORIA, Ariz. — Center fielder Franklin Gutierrez is having stomach problems again, and if they’re not settled soon he may not be able to play in the Seattle Mariners’ season opener next Friday at Oakland.
Gutierrez hasn’t played since Saturday and the Mariners don’t know when he will play a
gain. With six more exhibition games available for Gutierrez to play before the opener, manager Eric Wedge said time is running out for the 2010 Gold Glove winner to be ready.
“I’m not ready to give in to it just yet, but we’re getting there pretty quick,” Wedge said.
Gutierrez struggled late last season with stomach issues and, even though the team said in the offseason that he seemed to be OK, he continued to have problems early in spring training. Multiple medical tests performed early in spring training led team doctors to conclude that Gutierrez has a slow digestive system that can be controlled with diet and medicine.
Gutierrez has played only nine spring training games and is batting .240 in 25 at-bats.
“It’s been a tough spring for him,” Wedge said. “We’re just still trying to figure out something. Obviously, he’s behind. Once we do figure it out we’ll re-assess and go from there. But it’s getting late.”
Michael Saunders started in center field Thursday against the Royals for the sixth time since spring training began, including twice in the past three games.
Wedge said only that Saunders or Ryan Langerhans, who has started five times in center, would likely replace Gutierrez if he’s not ready by the opener.
“I’m comfortable with both of those guys out there,” Wedge said. “Both of them are good athletes and both of them have played out there.”
Saunders played his best game Thursday, going 2-for-4 with a third-inning double and a ninth-inning two-run home run. He’s batting .282 and, more important, feeling comfortable after making changes early in camp to his setup at the plate.
Saunders is keeping his hands closer to his body as he settles into his stance, and he says it has allowed him to drive the ball better to the opposite field.
“My approach is (to hit the ball) up the middle, other way and it has helped me stay back instead of wandering toward the ball,” he said. “I’m letting (the ball) travel to me. I feel like I’ve had some early success with it. I’ve been tinkering with it the last few years and it’s something that I’m really excited about.”
His third-inning double to the base of the outfield wall at the 385-foot mark in left-center field came off Royals left-hander Bruce Chen. It was a perfect example of what he is trying to accomplish with his opposite-field approach.
And, his home run to right field in the ninth, when right-hander Jeremy Jeffress hung a full-count curveball, shows what can happen when Saunders shows pitchers he can handle the pitch over the outer part of the strike zone.
“In order to get those balls to drive that are middle-in, you’ve got to show you can go the other way,” Saunders said. “That’s what we’ve been concentrating on this spring.”
If it comes to Saunders playing center field while Gutierrez is out, he’s ready for it. Of his 85 starts last year, 11 were in center field (the rest in left field).
“I came up as a center fielder in the minor leagues. I’m comfortable out there,” he said. “It’s not necessarily new to me but it’s something I still have to work hard at to get the angles down and get my reads right, especially at Safeco (Field) where there’s a lot of ground to cover.”
Fister cruises, then crumbles
In his next-to-last exhibition start, right-hander Doug Fister pitched better through four innings Thursday than he has all spring. Then he struggled in the fifth and sixth innings and was hit hard.
Fister allowed only a hit and a walk through 42/3 innings before he started leaving pitches up in the strike zone. He gave up six hits and two walks in the next 11/3 inning, including two-run homers by the Royals’ Lance Zawadzki and Alex Gordon in the fifth.
Wedge said Fister, who threw 97 pitches, didn’t get tired in his last two innings but got too quick with his delivery.
“He had a nice tempo, nice rhythm with his delivery, and then he started to speed up a little bit and his arm had trouble catching up,” Wedge said.
Fister, who lines up to start the Mariners’ third game April 3 at Oakland, has a 6.05 spring ERA.
Back-to-back for League
Brandon League, who’ll likely be the interim closer until David Aardsma is healthy, pitched an inning Thursday, working on back-to-back days for the first time at spring training.
How did he feel?
“Tell you tomorrow,” he said. “When I was out there, my arm felt fine.”
League pitched a perfect inning Wednesday night against the Rockies, striking out three, but struggled Thursday against the Royals. He allowed three hits and a run on a sacrifice fly.
Aardsma continues to throw and work out in his recovery from surgery in early January to repair a torn labrum in his left hip. He’s not expected to be game-ready until well into the first month of the season.
Today in camp
Mariners split-squad vs. Cubs, 1:05 p.m. at Mesa (MLB Network TV). Left-hander Aaron Laffey will start for the Mariners against Cubs right-hander Randy Wells.
Mariners split-squad vs. Dodgers, 7:05 p.m. at Peoria (FSN TV and ESPN 710 AM radio). Left-hander Erik Bedard will start for the Mariners against Dodgers right-hander John Ely.
Of note
Non-roster right-hander Jamey Wright continued his strong bid to win a bullpen spot, pitching a perfect eighth inning. He hasn’t allowed a run in 10 exhibition innings. “He throws the ball where he wants to, he knows what he wants to do with the baseball, he uses all of his pitches and he pitches with a great deal of confidence,” Wedge said. … Left-hander Royce Ring, also trying to crack the bullpen as a non-roster player, gave up his first runs of camp when he allowed a walk and a two-run homer by Melky Cabrera in the seventh inning. … Miguel Olivo went 1-for-4 and Jack Cust 1-for-5 in games against the Rangers’ minor league teams in nearby Surprise. Olivo, coming back from a strained left groin, is expected to catch five inning of a minor league game today.
Read Kirby Arnold’s blog on the Mariners at www.heraldnet.com/marinersblog and follow his Twitter updates on the team at @kirbyarnold.
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