John McLaren couldn’t have picked Sean Green out of the crowd of pitchers trying to make the Seattle Mariners’ roster at spring training.
Now, the Mariners’ manager isn’t sure what he would do without Green.
The Mariners’ 28-year-old right-hander, in his first full major league season, has become their go-to guy in tense late-game situations. With a sinker that causes hitters to beat the ball into the dirt, Green has gotten 62 of his 80 outs on ground balls, six of those leading to double plays.
“He’s got a rubber arm and he can pitch a lot,” McLaren said. “He’s throwing strikes and hitters don’t get good swings on him. He’s been a nice addition to the bullpen.”
Green, who had a 4.50 earned run average in 24 relief appearances last year, has a 2.70 ERA in 362/3 innings over 33 appearances this season. His latest was one of his best, escaping a jam in the seventh inning Wednesday night when he got the final out with two runners on base after the Orioles had tied the score, then worked a 1-2-3 eighth.
Four months ago, at spring training, Green was one of several right-handers hoping to make the team. McLaren, who began the year as former manager Mike Hargrove’s bench coach, barely knew him.
“In spring training, he was fighting for his life like a lot of other guys in the bullpen,” McLaren said. “Now that you see him on a regular basis, you appreciate him.”
Green says the keys to his success this season seem to be simple.
He’s been healthy after spending two stints on the disabled list last year. And he’s pitching aggressively. He also has lowered his arm angle and throws more sidearm, which has put better movement on his pitches.
“I’m being aggressive and throwing strikes,” he said. “I dropped my arm angle a little bit and I’m getting a lot more action on the fastball, and my breaking pitch has been a lot better from that slot.”
It has taken a lot of personal belief and perseverance to get this far.
This is a guy who spent his first four years of pro ball at the Class A level after the Rockies selected him in the 12th round of the 2000 draft. That began a 61/2-year journey through the minor leagues that made it seem he was destined to spend his career there.
Green had a breakout season in 2004 when he went 4-3 with a 3.03 earned run average in 52 relief appearances for the Rockies’ Class AA team in Tulsa. That got him a ticket out of the Rockies organization when they traded him to the Mariners in exchange for pitcher Aaron Taylor after the 2004 season.
Green recorded 14 saves and had a 2.96 ERA for the Mariners’ Class AA team in San Antonio, and made the 2005 Texas League All-Star team, before the Mariners promoted him to Class AAA Tacoma. He continued to pitch well there by going 4-2 with a 3.65 ERA.
In a Mariners organization that was sorting through a supposed deep pool of pitching in the minor leagues, Green seemed left behind.
He wasn’t invited to spring training in 2006 but got a huge break in early March when the Mariners needed an extra arm from the minor league camp in order to get through an exhibition game.
Green had pitched winter ball in Puerto Rico and was one of the few non 40-man roster guys who had the arm strength to pitch in those early spring games. He’d already impressed Hargrove with his sinker in an intrasquad game and, when the Mariners needed a fresh arm for their exhibition game against Japan’s World Baseball Classic team on March 8, 2006, he asked for Green.
Problem was, he’d just spent 22 hours with his wife, Christina, who was in labor with the couple’s first child. Just a few hours after their daughter, Olivia, was born, Green pitched two scoreless innings against Japan.
Having impressed all the right people with that sinker, Green spent most of the month in the major league camp before the Mariners sent him to Tacoma to begin the season. Within a month, he reached the big leagues when the Mariners called him up on May 2, 2006.
Green was up and down a few times last year, mixing periods of good pitching with injuries that interrupted his progress. Back spasms leveled him last July, and a strained lat muscle ended his season in September.
“I think my consistency is better than last year because of my injuries,” he said. “You have time on and time off, and it’s hard to get into a groove.”
Green found his groove this season and McLaren doesn’t hesitate to bring him into a game, especially when he needs that sinker to produce a double-play grounder.
“No matter what level you’re at, if you’re getting the ball in tight situations, your confidence level goes up,” Green said. “You’re winning and you feel confident that you’re going to get the ball late in the game. You want to get the ball.”
Green is getting it, and he’s doing good things with it.
Kirby Arnold covers the Mariners for The Herald. His new book, Tales from the Seattle Mariners Dugout, is available at booksellers throughout the Northwest.
Kirby Arnold covers the Mariners for The Herald. His new book, Tales from the Seattle Mariners Dugout, is available at all major booksellers.
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