PEORIA, Ariz. – Richie Sexson hit his first spring-training home run. Big deal, he said.
Carl Everett had two singles and drove in a run. So what?
“It’s just spring training,” Everett said.
Amid some positive signs Tuesday concerning two hitters the Seattle Mariners are depending on as RBI producers this season, there was a sense of reality.
Despite what Sexson and Everett did to fuel the Mariners’ 4-2 victory over the Chicago Cubs, they both say it’s too early to get enthused over their success.
Sexson raised his exhibition average to .562 and, finally, homered when he drove a fastball from Cubs pitcher Ryan Dempster to the opposite field.
“All it means is lift. Backspin,” said Sexson, who hit 39 homers last year in the regular season, but just two at spring training.
All that matters now, Sexson said, is to aim for good at-bats and not worry if he doesn’t get them.
“If you can feel good now, great,” he said. “But you definitely want to be feeling good that last week.
“You want solid contact. Good, solid at-bats. You can’t control what happens after you square it up. Even during the year, it’s not like, ‘Oh man, I’ve got nine hits and I’m hitting .500, but I’d better hit a homer.’ All you can do if you’ve got power is to put the good part of the bat on it. If I get singles, sorry, I’ll deal with those. That’s the least of my worries.”
He also isn’t overly enthused to have homered to the opposite field, although one measure of a hitter is his ability to go the other way with power.
“I’m just trying to put the ball in play hard somewhere,” Sexson said. “If it gets a little deep and I put some backspin on it like what happened today, it’s going to go. Is it encouraging? Absolutely. It’s a good sign to hit it the other way. But am I going home saying, ‘Wow, I’m ready to start the season tomorrow?’ No.”
Everett, the switch-hitting DH who was batting .211 entering the game, went 2-for-3, drove in a run and now is batting .273.
“I still don’t like spring training,” he said.
New, improved Lopez: Seattle manager Mike Hargrove wanted to see improvement both defensively and offensively from second baseman Jose Lopez at spring training, and so far he’s satisfied.
“His setup is better, his jumps are better, his range has improved. It still needs to get better, but it’s better than it was,” Hargrove said.
Legwork was a big part of Lopez’s offseason focus.
“We worked really hard starting last year on increasing his stride,” Hargrove said. “He has a tendency to take those little Fred Flintstone steps.”
Fred Flintstone steps?
“You know, when Fred starts his car?” Hargrove added.
World relief: Hargrove said he was relieved to learn that third baseman Adrian Beltre’s strained hip flexor is not serious.
Beltre suffered the injury Sunday while playing for the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic. Mariners trainer Rick Griffin has been in contact with the Dominican trainers to monitor Beltre’s progress.
“I’m not concerned,” Hargrove said. “Rick has been in contact with their trainer, and the report we got last night was that he’s OK.”
Of note: Pitcher Jesse Foppert didn’t have a repeat of the blister problems he experienced in his last outing, but he still spilled blood Tuesday against the Cubs. The blistered finger was fine; he cut the ring finger on his pitching hand with a fingernail, although it didn’t affect his work. He allowed two hits in three scoreless innings, lowering his spring earned-run average to 1.29. “The good thing about today was that I was able to keep the ball down,” he said. … Hargrove, who stayed at the complex in meetings with the front office until about 8:30 Monday night, said he probably would cut the camp roster today. “It’ll be less than 10 and more than five,” he said, indicating that none of the cuts would come as a surprise. “If I gave you the list, you’d probably pick out the same guys.” … Closer Eddie Guardado and outfielder Matt Lawton were back with the team Tuesday after missing two days to attend memorial services in Minneapolis for former Twins teammate Kirby Puckett.
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