PEORIA, Ariz. — Twelve hours after his team blew another bases-loaded nobody-out opportunity to win a game, manager John McLaren continued to see the Friday morning.
He hadn’t quite reached the Lou Piniella “if these guys don’t perform, we’ll get someone who will” stage, but McLaren was close.
Yuniesky Betancourt popped out to shallow right field for the first out when even a medium-depth fly would have scored speedy Charlton Jimerson from third base. Then Mike Morse bounced weakly into a double play that ended the threat.
The Mariners have emphasized situational hitting at spring training, but McLaren has seen too many lost opportunities this month.
“It was our Achilles’ Heel last year and I still see signs of it,” he said. “We’re going to mention it again today. If we’re going to be a good ballclub we can’t leave runners stranded on third base with less than two outs. It just can’t happen.
“I see some guys trying to be patient and then the pitcher expands the zone. Then I see other guys who are wild swingers. We’ve got a little bit of everything going on there.”
This comes a few days after the hitters were handed a sheet of statistics showing their averages last year in certain ball-strike counts. It was intended to show some of the free swingers like Betancourt, Jose Lopez and Kenji Johjima how they swing at bad pitches despite having the count in their favor.
Lopez batted .083 with a 3-1 count last year; Betancourt .180 with a 2-2 count; Johjima .222 with a 2-0 count.
“It’s something we’ve talked about,” McLaren said. “We’ve talked about not trying to do too much, talked about hitting sacrifice flies to center.”
He said that’s one reason Greg Norton is being considered as a pinch hitter.
“We will pinch hit for guys if we’re not getting it done,” McLaren said. “We’re serving notice, we’ve got to get these runs in. We’ve got confidence that these guys can drive these runs in, but if they keep leaving runners out there we’re going to have to consider other options.
“I certainly don’t think we can just go to March 31 and say, ‘Let’s turn it on.’ You got to have a game plan. That’s what we’re preaching. Get a damn game plan.”
Bombs off Bedard: Opening-day starter Erik Bedard won’t say the dry air and lack of bite on his breaking ball is a factor, but he gave up two more home runs Friday to the Kansas City Royals.
Bedard has allowed seven home runs this spring, all in the past three games, and, to show what this month has been like for him, his exhibition ERA actually went down to 9.50.
Asked what he tried to accomplish Friday, Bedard offered a quick — and brief — answer.
“Try not to give up home runs,” he said.
Are the home runs a concern?
“It’s only going to concern me if it’s during the season, at this rate,” he said.
Confident it won’t happen when the regular season begins?
“Anything could happen,” he said. “I could have the worst year of my life.”
McLaren certainly isn’t concerned, saying Bedard is healthy and the dry air in Arizona was more responsible for the lack of bite on his breaking pitches than anything else.
“He’s a veteran pitcher and he knows what he’s got to do to get ready for March 31,” McLaren said. “I’ve seen some real ugly numbers over the years with veteran pitchers.”
Bench battle goes on: Morse bounced back from his difficult game Thursday with a 2-for-4 performance and an errorless game in left field Friday. He’s still the Mariners’ best hitter this month with a .523 average.
Still, there’s no guarantee that he or anyone else not named Willie Bloomquist or Miguel Cairo have a lock on the bench jobs. That’s not a good feeling for McLaren, who is looking for Morse, Jimerson, Wladimir Balentien, Jeremy Reed and Greg Norton to ramp up their play in the final week.
There could be two openings on the bench, depending on whether the Mariners carry 11 or 12 pitchers.
“I’m concerned,” McLaren said. “We’re no closer to finding that extra bench or two position than we were two weeks ago. Everyone brings something different to the table. We debated for an hour last night. We just want to see where we want to go with this and what options we have and (if) we’re going to try some things different.”
McLaren said he wasn’t about to make his decision after one bad game by Morse.
“(Jay) Buhner’s had a Twilight Zone before,” he said. “It happens.”
Of note: With the Mariners playing today against the Rangers, their opening-series opponent, Felix Hernandez and J.J. Putz will pitch instead in a minor league game this morning. Ryan Feierabend will start the afternoon game against the Rangers. … Carlos Silva will pitch in a minor league game Sunday as the Mariners keep from exposing him to the Angels, who they play in Tempe that afternoon. … Jose Lopez had an Edgar Martinez-like day Friday, getting a dozen at-bats with Class A Wisconsin and High Desert in minor league exhibitions. He doubled and tripled in his first two at-bats. Willie Bloomquist, coming back from a tender right quad, will get at-bats on the minor league side today.
Read Kirby Arnold’s blog on the Mariners at www.heraldnet.com
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