SEATTLE — The Philadelphia Phillies’ Cliff Lee won’t pitch in this weekend’s series against the Seattle Mariners, but his influence may have an impact — in the Mariners’ clubhouse.
Lee, a Mariner last year until they traded him July 9 to the Texas Rangers, was such a presence to his Seattle
teammates that there’s been a lasting effect.
“I think Cliff definitely influenced guys in his routine, how he approached his work on the mound, whether it be a side (throwing) day or the day of the game,” pitching coach Carl Willis said.
Younger pitchers like Jason Vargas and Doug Fister benefitted from Lee, but so did a veteran like Erik Bedard, Willis believes.
“If you look at Vargas and to some extent even Bedard, I think probably seeing a guy like Cliff helped them,” he said. “He doesn’t have the most electric stuff in the world, but he has that type of command and he has that type of aggressiveness and fight that says to a hitter, ‘I’m coming at you, I’m going to beat you and here’s how I’m going to do it.’
“I think those guys are taking that approach, particularly our starters. Knock on wood, but that’s why we’ve been as efficient as we’ve been. It’s not just about pitching giving us seven innings, but pitching the seven innings and throwing only 105 pitches instead of 125.”
Of note
Ichiro Suzuki’s stolen base in the first inning Wednesday night was the 400th of his major league career. He added another with a steal in the seventh inning. Suzuki stole 199 bases in Japan. … Suzuki is one of four active players with at least 400 steals. The others are Juan Pierre with 537 since 2000, Carl Crawford with 417 since 2002 and Omar Vizquel with 401 since 1989. … Carlos Peguero is batting .314 with three home runs and seven RBI in his past 11 games. … Mike Carp has hit safely in four of the six games he has played since being called up from Tacoma on June 8. … Safeco Field has won the 2011 Venue Excellence Award for Stadiums by the International Association of Venue Managers. The award is based on a venue’s service to the community, team building and professional development, safety and security, and operational excellence.
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