Two weeks from today, the Seattle Mariners will say goodbye to their longest spring training ever. They’ll play two more exhibition games in Las Vegas then throw the first official pitch April 6 in Minnesota.
Sometime between now and then, the Mariners will say hello to a lineup that we may recognize. At the halfway point of the exhibition season, the Mariners have played basically with half a team.
The World Baseball Classic fractured the Mariners more than any major league team — Ichiro Suzuki and Kenji Johjima playing for Japan, and Jose Lopez, Felix Hernandez, Carlos Silva and Endy Chavez for Venezuela.
Add the fact that Ken Griffey Jr. and Mike Sweeney are being brought along slowly to keep their knees healthy, plus four split-squad games that thinned an already thin roster, and you realize they’ve been playing with more than one arm behind their backs.
It could be the middle of next week, after the WBC ends on Tuesday, when the Mariners get their whole lineup together. So, until then, it’s useless to get worked up over what’s happened so far. And what’s happened hasn’t been pretty.
Pitchers haven’t thrown strikes. Infielders have kicked the ball around. Outfielders have run serpentine routes to fly balls that fell at their feet. Hitters swung at strike one, strike two and strike three. And a certain shortstop still hadn’t drawn a walk.
Twenty-one games into a 39-game exhibition schedule, there’s no avoiding the fact they’ve occasionally been a stumbling, bumbling bunch.
It’s time, as they say, to tighten things up.
My guess is that the Mariners will.
Tonight, Griffey tests his legs in left field and Sweeney will get more consistent at-bats at DH. Next week, Suzuki, Johjima, Lopez, Chavez, Hernandez and Silva will rejoin the Mariners from the WBC.
Only then will we see what the Mariners have. Only then will the big questions surrounding this team come close to being answered.
n Who’s the closer? Nobody has stood out in a crowd that includes (in alphabetical order) Miguel Batista, Roy Corcoran, Mark Lowe, Randy Messenger and Tyler Walker.
n Who’s the No. 5 starter? Chances are good it won’t be Brandon Morrow when the season begins. The tightness in his forearm is gone, but not concerns over his durability. Look for Ryan Rowland-Smith to pitch April 10 when Morrow would have.
n How much left field will Griffey play? Perhaps the greater question is how much bat speed does Griffey have left? He still hasn’t squared up a ball, but give him time — he’s gotten just 14 at-bats and he’s still building strength in his legs.
n Will Sweeney make the team? It looks like his swing is fine and, so far, his legs are, too. Sweeney’s positive presence in the clubhouse has been a huge factor at spring training and you can only imagine how important it would be in the midst of a losing streak.
n How will the bullpen roles shake out? Besides closer, there’s no sure bet as the left-handed specialist, although Tyler Johnson seems to be coming along well after a shoulder setback. There are numerous good arms in this camp — Lowe, Corcoran, Walker, David Aardsma and even Batista when he has an idea where his stuff is going — along with sleepers such as Shawn Kelley and Chris Jakubauskas who just might make the club.
n Who’s the backup catcher? Wakamatsu said Wednesday that defense will be the primary factor in who gets the job behind Johjima. That could mean Jeff Clement’s attractive left-handed bat may not save him unless he has made big strides defensively. Jamie Burke is a 37-year-old veteran who won’t hit much but knows how to handle pitchers.
Too many questions, too little time to answer them?
Not at this spring training, where the Mariners still have more than two weeks to show what they’ve got.
Read Kirby Arnold’s blog from spring training at www.heraldnet.com.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
