It’s a quiet clubhouse on Day 1 of spring training, which comes as no surprise because it’s physical exam day for pitchers and catchers. The poking, prodding, coughing and wincing starts at 1, and nobody wants to wear themselves out with a full workout before going through that.
Among the few early arrivals is right-handed starter Ian Snell, who could be a huge factor in the Mariners’ starting rotation this year. He’ll fall in place behind Felix Hernandez and Cliff Lee (and maybe Ryan Rowland-Smith if manager Don Wakamatsu wants to go back-to-back with his left-handers).
Snell couldn’t stress how much he appreciates having this opportunity with this team. It’s been a cleansing offseason for a guy who dealt with a good deal of mental anxiety with the Pirates before the Mariners got him via trade last July.
“This is so much more refreshing, and I’m happy to get a new start,” he said. “I’ve told myself that it’s the beginning of my career again. I’m 0-0.”
For the record, he’s 38-48 as a big-leaguer, and 5-2 in a dozen starts after the trade to the Mariners last year.
Since then, Snell went home to Florida and focused on an offseason workout regimen that was extremely light on throwing.
“When I was with Pittsburgh, I usually would go to a mini-camp during the winter and throw there, and I’d keep throwing,” he said. “This offseason I worked really, really hard on my agility work and my hand-eye coordination. I didn’t throw too much at all because I didn’t want to put the wear and tear on my arm.”
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