PEORIA, Ariz. – It wasn’t the sermon the Seattle Mariners, or the few hundred fans who watched their morning practice, expected to hear on Easter Sunday.
Mariners manager Mike Hargrove, however, had seen just about enough of a team that was strolling through a pickoff/rundown drill without much energy or mental focus.
Hargrove made a slow walk from home plate, past the pitcher’s mound, and lambasted the Mariners.
Then, in a speech laced with venom and expletives, Hargrove let them know he wasn’t pleased.
He prefaced his remarks by saying he didn’t want anybody to get hurt in the final week of spring training, but even in a drill run at half speed he was seeing too many missed signs and too little focus.
“I don’t care if we have to do it until the cows come home!” Hargrove yelled. “Now do it and do it right and do it with a little energy!”
As he walked back to his spot near home plate, the players remained silent but attentive on the field. Behind the fences, several fans gave him a golf clap.
“That was a good one. I haven’t heard one like that since Tom Kelly,” said Eddie Guardado, who played for Kelly with the Twins.
Pitching coach Bryan Price said it was a necessary explosion from Hargrove.
“There’s nothing wrong with holding guys accountable for doing their jobs,” Price said.
Ailing up the middle: The Mariners’ double-play tandem isn’t feeling so good.
Shortstop Pokey Reese came out of Sunday’s game in the third inning because of a sore right shoulder, and second baseman Bret Boone was nursing a jammed right thumb after the game.
Reese had ranged deep in the hole between shortstop and third base to field a grounder in the third inning, but his throw was weak and wide of first base. He left the game after that inning.
“His shoulder’s bothering him a little bit,” Hargrove said. “It’s kind of an on-and-off thing. I don’t think it’s anything for us to be real concerned about. We’re seven days from opening day and we want to be as cautious as we can.”
The Mariners did not say if Reese would miss any games. He missed several early in camp because of a sprained ankle, then when he went home for three days to handle personal business.
Boone said he jammed his thumb while fielding ground balls during Sunday morning’s practice, but he played five innings in the afternoon against the White Sox.
Guardado pitching, not playing: Closer Eddie Guardado, who was scratched Sunday from his scheduled return to game action, instead pitched another simulated game.
He threw 40 pitches without any problems to his right hamstring. The Mariners are worried that the hamstring, which Guardado hurt early this month, could be re-injured if he had to field a bunt or cover first base.
Guardado will be re-checked today and, if he’s OK, pitch either another simulated game or an exhibition game in the minor league camp, with strict instructions not to sprint off the mound.
“We are going to be cautious,” Price said. “If he re-pulls it, then it’s a problem, so we are going to be a lot more cautious on this end and make sure we have it behind him. With these things you don’t know. You really do have to come in each day and get the professional opinion of trainers and doctors before you make a decision.”
Price believes Guardado will be ready for the season opener next Monday.
“He is getting reps,” he said. “He is going to end up throwing eight or nine innings by the time all this done. The only difference is that only three or four of them will be in real game situations.”
Guardado had pitched two simulated games, plus considerable work in the bullpen, and thought he was ready for the intensity of real game situations. His final tuneup was to be a fielding drill late last week to see how he moved off the mound to cover first base.
“The first time I kind of broke quick and I felt it a little bit,” Guardado said. “Maybe it was telling me it’s not quite ready yet. It’s real close but they don’t want me to do anything dumb.”
Guardado says there still is plenty of time to get ready for the opener, even though he has pitched just one inning of a B game all spring, and that was March 7. Besides the hamstring problem, Guardado still hasn’t tested his left shoulder, which caused him to miss the final two months of last season, in game conditions.
“I’ll be ready opening day,” he said. “I’ve got no problems pitching. It’s just the one quick move covering the bag. Pitching is fine. We’re real close.”
Pineiro OK: Joel Pineiro’s shoulder was fine Sunday, one day after he pitched three innings in his first spring training game since March 4. Pineiro, who won’t be ready until mid-April, came down with a sore right shoulder the day after his only other exhibition outing this year.
He’s expected to need three more games before his pitch count will be high enough to join the Mariners’ rotation, Hargrove said.
“It’s not about his health now,” Hargrove said. “It’s about him being able to throw 90 to 100 pitches.”
No announcement: Hargrove continues to sit on his decision, or announcement, of who will be the Mariners’ opening-day starting pitcher.
“Not yet, but we’re close,” he said. “I could probably make the decision right now, but I’ve got to talk to him first.”
Jamie Moyer is the likely starter on April 4.
Of note: Raul Ibanez continued to swing a scorching-hot bat, getting two hits and driving in four runs Sunday. He leads the American League with 22 RBI in 19 games. “I’ve been fortunate to have guys on base and I’ve hit some balls in the holes,” he said. … Starting pitcher Bobby Madritsch pitched six innings in a minor league game Sunday, giving up four hits and one unearned run while striking out four. … In the ongoing audition for the left-handed specialty role in the bullpen, Matt Thornton helped himself Sunday, although he didn’t escape unscathed in his 21/3 innings. He allowed three hits and a run, but also struck out three. Nate Bland, also still in the mix, pitched one scoreless inning with one strikeout and one walk. … The Mariners have sent minor league second baseman Mickey Lopez to the San Francisco Giants for cash considerations. … The Mariners re-assigned catcher Ryan Christianson to the minor league camp. Christianson is out 4-6 weeks after suffering a broken index finger on his left hand last week. … Left-handed pitcher Ryan Rowland-Smith, a Rule 5 player who the Twins returned to the Mariners, arrived Sunday, giving the M’s 39 players in camp. … Jeff Nelson, Ron Villone and J.J. Putz will all pitch in a minor league game today.
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