Joel Pineiro took another step forward this week in his comeback from an elbow injury.
The right-handed pitcher, who could be the Seattle Mariners’ opening day starter on April 4 against the Minnesota Twins, has thrown twice in the bullpen at Safeco Field with no problems.
“He threw just fastballs and it was nice and easy, but he’s doing great,” trainer Rick Griffin said.
Griffin said Pineiro’s preparation at spring training won’t be restricted when pitchers and catchers begin workouts Feb. 17 in Peoria, Ariz., although the Mariners will keep a close eye on him.
Pineiro suffered a strained flexor bundle last June and missed the second half of the 2004 season. He rehabbed the injury through September and threw well in a bullpen session last October during the instructional league camp in Peoria.
“He hit 92, 93 (mph) and was throwing all of his pitches,” Griffin said. “If we’d have been in the playoffs, we’d have had no problem from a medical standpoint running him out there.”
While that October session, along with his pain-free workouts this week at Safeco Field, give the Mariners a sense of comfort with Pineiro, they’re also cautious.
“I have full confidence that he’s going to be 100 percent,” pitching coach Bryan Price said. “But I’m interested to see how his progress goes, and when he gets into a game situation if he can be the same guy by trusting that his arm is not going to hurt.”
Price said the first big test of Pineiro’s elbow will be early in camp when the pitchers throw live batting practice.
“There’s a little more energy during those sessions than when they throw in the bullpen, and it should verify that his arm is 100 percent,” Price said. “You have more adrenaline against hitters and in a game situation than you can create in the bullpen. Until he gets into those games, we’re not really going to know.”
The Mariners will have the same concerns with closer Eddie Guardado, who missed the second half of last season with a rotator cuff injury.
“Eddie has been throwing off flat ground and he wanted to get on the mound before spring training,” Price said. “Rick (Griffin) felt it was best for him to keep throwing off flat ground and gain his arm strength.”
The incline of a mound tends to put stress on a pitcher’s arm that doesn’t happen when he throws off flat ground. Price said it’s especially difficult on the shoulder, and he remembers one former Mariner – Clint Zavaras, who pitched with Seattle in 1989 – who never was able to throw off a mound after he injured his shoulder.
“He could play long toss and throw on flat ground just like he did before the shoulder injury, but once you got him on the mound, the ball came out of his hand like it was a marshmallow. There was nothing on the ball. It seems like the angle (of the mound) really tends to ask a little more out of a shoulder.”
Like Pineiro, the Mariners aren’t discouraged about Guardado but they also won’t allow themselves to become overly optimistic.
“Eddie and Joel might be 100 percent when they get to spring training, but until they get on the mound and see how they feel, we’ll have our radar out,” Price said.
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