Mariners manager Jim Riggleman says there may be two of his players who aren’t afflicted with some sort of ache or pain, although he wouldn’t say who.
Two who are hurting weren’t in their usual positions Saturday night — third baseman Adrian Beltre, who has a bad left shoulder and was the DH, and catcher Jeff Clement, who has a tender right knee and didn’t start.
“I don’t know for sure at this time if anybody would be totally healthy,” Riggleman said. “I see it all through the league. I see guys sitting and I see some guys going on the DL. There’s a couple of guys who are playing like they are very healthy. I don’t even want to say who’s feeling good because I don’t want to jinx them.”
Beltre, who rarely takes a day off or willingly comes out of a game, injured his shoulder diving for a ball in Friday night’s game. Clement has been dealing with a sore knee.
“He could (play) but we don’t feel there’s a need to do that and aggravate it any further,” Riggleman said.
Balancing act with Green: Reliever Shawn Green pitched back-to-back games Thursday and Friday for the first time since the last week in July. His relative inactivity has been the most popular theory why he has struggled since the All-Star break.
Green led the league in appearances midway through the season and Riggleman used the break to rest his right-hander. He went six days without pitching and, as a sinkerball specialist who’s more effective when the arm is a little tired, he hasn’t been the same.
Green was 2-2 with a 2.72 ERA in 48 appearances before the break but entered Saturday 1-1, 7.94 in 13 games after.
“With all the right intentions, we sat him probably longer than we should have,” Riggleman said. “It just seems like from that point on he has not been quite as sharp. He needs more work than he’s had.”
Riggleman said Green should be able to pitch about 80 games and close to 100 innings. Entering Saturday, he’d pitched 641/3 innings in 61 games.
“Mike Marshall won the Cy Young as a reliever and he pitched 206 innings (2081/3, actually, for the Dodgers in 1974),” Riggleman said. “You just don’t see it anymore. But you see some relievers who can pitch 95 to 100 innings and I think Shawn is a guy who can approach that.”
Bloomquist’s uncertain future: All Willie Bloomquist can do is rehab his strained right hamstring and wonder if he’s played his last game as a Mariner.
“If it is, I hate to go out that way,” said Bloomquist, who was hurt Aug. 9 and, because he’ll be a free agent, may not have time to recover before the season ends. “There will be a lot of factors that go into that decision. I like Seattle, I like the city, I like this organization. There are things about the National League I like, too. First of all, I have to see if they want me back here. They have kind of hinted that we can talk a little bit.”
Bloomquist is pushing himself to be ready before the end of September but knows he must be smart and not risk reinjury.
“I have to be definitely 100 percent healthy with no question marks,” he said. “Given the situation we’re in, there is no sense in taking a chance of reinjuring it. I am trying to get to where I can play, but I still have a ways to go.”
Of note: The Mariners entered Saturday’s game having won six times in August, and the winning pitchers in those were relievers Roy Corcoran and J.J. Putz, who won three each. The last starter to win was R.A. Dickey on July 31. … Erik Bedard will throw off flat ground today, his second session since taking four days off from his throwing program after he felt discomfort in his left shoulder. Bedard, who threw Friday for the first time since last Sunday, has been on the DL since July 5 because of tightness in the shoulder. … Clement has a .350 average this month, second among American League rookies in August.
Kirby Arnold, Herald Writer
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