PEORIA, Ariz. – Jeff Nelson and Aaron Sele couldn’t be in a more similar situation.
The Seattle Mariners must decide today if the veteran right-handed pitchers, who both seem strong after suffering arm injuries, will make the 2005 opening-day roster.
They’ve pitched well at spring training and would seem to have the team made after coming to spring training as non-roster players, but they also know there’s more to roster decisions than how they performed for four weeks in Arizona.
“I’m at ease either way,” said Sele, who figures he has pitched well enough to catch the eye of another team if the Mariners don’t want him.
Nelson?
“I don’t want to have to make a decision (today),” he said. “I don’t want to know why I didn’t make it and wonder what I am going to do.”
Six weeks ago, Nelson said he would retire if he didn’t make the team. But that was before a full exhibition season proved to him that his arm is strong and his pitches are effective.
If the Mariners don’t keep him, he might retire on the spot but he also might listen to offers for a 22nd and final professional season. He wants it to be with the Mariners.
“Family means a lot to me, the Mariners mean a lot to me, the city means a lot to me,” said Nelson, 38, who broke in with the M’s in 1992 and also played for them from 2001 to 2003. He would become the first to play three stints with the Mariners.
“I want to end it as a Mariner,” Nelson said.
Nelson has a 5.00 earned run average this spring, but he has allowed just two earned runs and struck out eight in his past six appearances.
“If I don’t make this team, Oakland could come to me tomorrow and say, ‘We want you to pitch for us,’ and that would be a tough decision to make,” he said. “I feel like I can help any team, but this is the only place I really want to play.”
Sele was knocked around in his final exhibition start, but said he is satisfied with the month he had.
“I’ve had a lot of fun,” said Sele, who battled arm problems the past two years while with the Angels. “I’ve been able to show people that I was healthy and fully recovered from the surgery. At times I threw the ball well, at times I threw the ball bad. Spring training isn’t easy for a feel pitcher with a curveball.”
Sele entered Tuesday’s game against the A’s with a 1.59 ERA before giving up seven hits and eight runs in 42/3 innings of a 10-5 loss.
“My goal here was to repeat pitches, stay down in the zone and find that good rhythm and tempo,” said Sele, who believes he has reached that point.
Sele has been one of the most consistent of the Mariners’ starting pitchers this spring and would seem in line for a roster spot. He’s not assuming anything.
“Baseball is a crazy game and anything can happen,” he said. “Whatever they decide is based more on other things than numbers. They’re looking at the whole picture. It’s the real business side of the game.
“This team is going to be a lot better than it was last year. I would love to be here.”
Moyer to pitch opener: Jamie Moyer has been the Mariners’ opening-day starting pitcher twice and lost. The 42-year-old left-hander will get a third chance Monday against the Minnesota Twins at Safeco Field.
Moyer took manager Mike Hargrove’s announcement Tuesday with the calmness of a veteran – “Somebody’s got to do it,” he said – and then reflected.
“I’m honored. There is a lot of emphasis put on opening day,” he said. “My first opening game was against Boston and Pedro. I’ll always remember that game.”
The Red Sox beat the Mariners 2-0 at Safeco Field to begin the 2000 season, when Pedro Martinez limited the M’s to two hits. Last year, Moyer started against the Angels’ Bartolo Colon and lost 10-5.
Monday, Moyer will face Twins right-hander Brad Radke, plus all the hoopla of opening day that can be a distraction. That’s one reason Hargrove named him the starter.
“For what Jamie has done in his career and what he’s done as a Mariner, he deserves this reward,” Hargrove said. “I think he will be able to handle the distractions on opening day.”
Moyer, who will pitch his final spring training game today against the Kansas City Royals, is 1-1 with a 2.81 earned run average.
“He’s had a good spring,” Hargrove said. “He’s changed speeds and gotten ahead of hitters and kept the ball down. If he hadn’t pitched well, he’d probably not be the guy.”
The “guy” might have been right-hander Joel Pineiro, who the Mariners envision as a staff ace in the future. Pineiro came down with a sore shoulder early in camp and isn’t expected to be ready until mid-April.
Moyer, meanwhile, will try to treat Monday’s start as if it were one of 30-some he will make this season.
“There is a lot of excitement on opening day, but there’s also excitement on July 28 when you pitch. That never changes,” he said. “I’m trying not to make more of it than it is. It’s a privilege and an honor, but it’s a start.”
Lefty Bland cut: The competition for the left-handed specialty role in the bullpen was reduced to two Tuesday when the Mariners released Nate Bland.
With at Matt Thornton and George Sherrill ahead of him in the major league camp, and the minor-league system stocked with left-handed prospects, the Mariners decided to give the 30-year-old Bland his release rather than carry him at Class AAA Tacoma.
Bland went 1-1 with a 7.71 earned run average with three strikeouts and six walks in 91/3 innings.
Besides Thornton and Sherrill, the Mariners have taken hard look recently at a couple of promising minor league left-handers, Cesar Jimenez and Ryan Rowland-Smith.
Of note: Shortstop Pokey Reese missed his second straight start because of a sore right shoulder, but Hargrove believed he would be ready to play today. “We’re still going to give him one more day, but he’s better,” said Hargrove, who isn’t concerned that Reese has played just 14 games “He’s a veteran player, he’s in shape and when we’ve played him, he’s played well.” … The Mariners, who had told veteran Benji Gil days ago that he wouldn’t make the team, sent him to the New York Mets’ Class AAA team in Norfolk in exchange for cash considerations. … Ichiro Suzuki extended his spring training hitting streak to 17 games when he went 1-for-4 Tuesday. … Bret Boone and Richie Sexson continued to heat up with the bats in the final week before the season, each going 2-for-3. … The Mariners have added Tommy Jones, a longtime minor league manager and scout, to their scouting staff. He will handle the Mariners’ independent league scouting.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
