PEORIA, Ariz. – Seattle Mariners manager Mike Hargrove spent about five minutes Thursday morning trying to explain to reporters the fine line between disciplining an underachieving team and stroking it with praise.
Later, he gave first baseman Richie Sexson a real-life lesson on just where that line is.
One day after Sexson had booted two routine ground balls for errors in an exhibition game, he was back on the field casually gloving ground balls as the infielders worked on their fielding.
Hargrove took note of Sexson and made a slow, methodical walk toward first base. After a 30-second, one-way conversation, Hargrove walked away.
And Sexson fielded the rest of his grounders with more hustle.
Hargrove hadn’t been pleased with the Mariners’ lackluster play, especially the mental approach of a team that seemed tired after just seven games.
“Mentally, we’re kind of lackadaisical in getting ready to play,” Hargrove said. “You have to work on getting that ready just like you work on anything else.
“Physically, we’ve worked very hard. Guys are doing their work and in almost every case doing more than we ask. I don’t have a complaint at all with the physical effort we’re giving.”
Sexson, who signed a four-year, $50 million contract, has become the poster boy for the Mariners’ problems. He has played in six of the eight exhibition games, is 0-for-12 with six strikeouts and has made three errors. He went 0-for-3 and struck out twice Thursday, looking at called third strikes both times.
“There’s a mental process you go through where you get back to doing this every day, and you’ve got to adjust to that,” Hargrove said.
Asked if that applies to managers, too, Hargrove turned to his quick wit.
“Where you just want to shoot everybody?” he asked. “If it doesn’t happen to you, you need to worry about it.”
Hargrove has both stroked and lashed out at the team in his first spring training as the Mariners’ manager. His morning meeting with the team before Thursday’s workout went longer than usual as he let them know – again – that he expects effort and focus.
The timing was right for another reminder.
“It wasn’t just about what I saw in yesterday’s game, but what I’d seen over the last three or four days,” Hargrove said. “There’s a real fine line between being patient and being foolish. You can have all the meetings you want in the world, scream and holler all you want or stroke all you can stroke, but if the timing is wrong, it just doesn’t work.”
Pineiro’s return uncertain: The Mariners had hoped that starting pitcher Joel Pineiro would throw a bullpen session Saturday and return to exhibition games Monday.
Neither of those is likely as Pineiro continues to feel discomfort in his right shoulder.
“He’s not going to throw a bullpen until we feel like he’s 100 percent as far as no stiffness, no soreness, no lack of range of motion,” pitching coach Bryan Price said. “We want to make sure it’s feeling really good before we ask him to get on the mound.”
Pineiro had spent all winter building strength in his right elbow after a strained muscle landed him on the disabled list the final two months of last season. He made his exhibition debut last Friday and said he may have thrown with too much intensity because he hadn’t pitched in so long.
By Saturday, the shoulder was hurting, although the Mariners said it was nothing but typical soreness. Thursday, they continued to believe Pineiro isn’t seriously hurt, although it’s clear he won’t return to the mound soon.
“It’s extremely vague as to when he’s going to pitch again,” Price said. “It’s going to be when the training staff and when Joel feel the arm is ready for him to pitch. There will be a bullpen or two before that comes around.”
Cut day: The Mariners trimmed five players from the major league camp Thursday, none of the moves coming as a surprise. They re-assigned to the minor-league camp right-handed pitchers Ricky Guttormson (of Anacortes) and Rett Johnson, left-handed pitcher Jared Thomas and infielders Adam Jones and Matt Tuiasosopo (of Woodinville). The moves leave the Mariners with 56 players in the major league camp.
Of note: Shortstop Pokey Reese was a late scratch from the starting lineup because he was feeling sick, Hargrove said. Reese had taken part in the morning drills. … Catcher Wiki Gonzalez, in his second spring training with the Mariners, finally played in his first exhibition game Thursday. Shelved because of an assortment of injuries last spring training, a strained groin had held him back until Thursday, when he was a late replacement. … Pitcher Aaron Looper, who began throwing off the mound this week as he recovers from major elbow surgery, had the flu Thursday and was sent home. … When minor league position players report today, there will be 164 on that side of the camp.
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