PEORIA, Ariz. – Thomas Oldham knows he doesn’t have a chance to make the Seattle Mariners’ roster, even though he gave the team Tuesday exactly what it’s been looking for throughout spring training.
Oldham, called up from the minor league camp to start in place of Felix Hernandez, pitched three scoreless innings against the Chicago Cubs, allowing one hit and striking out two.
It was a refreshing performance for the Mariners, who have been frustrated most of the month by the misfires of the left-handers who are competing for a bullpen role.
Oldham’s outing didn’t earn him a spot in the roster mix, but in lieu of a job he won the heart of manager Mike Hargrove.
“He was only supposed to go two innings, but the way he threw we stretched him out to three,” Hargrove said. “He had real good command of his fastball and a real good breaking ball.”
Oldham’s 13 victories last year for Class AA San Antonio were the second-most in the Texas League and his 115 strikeouts were fourth most. He pitched 1542/3 innings and walked 45.
Tuesday was a continuation of that.
“I just wanted to throw strikes and not try to do anything special,” he said. “They told me I did a good job and they were happy I threw strikes and let the defense work.”
It’s a concept that the Mariners have been waiting to see on a consistent basis from their left-handed bullpen candidates – George Sherrill, Jake Woods and Luis Gonzalez.
Oldham, who said he was an adrenaline-induced wreck while warming up for a seventh-inning appearance against the Brewers last year, was much more at ease this time.
“Sometimes when you come to these games, the anticipation is what’s going to kill you,” he said. “I’m a starter and I have a set warmup routine, I was comfortable with that.
“The whole atmosphere here (in a major league game) can get to you. It’s easy to get away from the focus of executing each pitch, and it can really screw you up.”
Step forward: Tuesday actually was a good day for the left-handed relief candidates. Woods and Gonzalez pitched well against the Cubs and Sherrill threw in the bullpen for the first time since he came down with a stiff shoulder.
Woods struck out two and allowed one hit in one inning, lowering his earned run average at 7.59. Gonzalez gave up a hit in one inning, dropping his ERA at 8.18.
“I was especially pleased with the way Woods threw,” Hargrove said. “It’s good to see them start to step up. We’ve been waiting for a couple of weeks for it to happen.”
Sherrill’s bullpen session went well and he is tentatively scheduled to pitch in an exhibition game Thursday.
“We’ll wait until (today) to see how he feels and make a decision, but he threw in the pen today and he threw well,” trainer Rick Griffin said.
Familiar face: Former Mariner John Mabry returned to Peoria on Tuesday with the Cubs, still enjoying the life of a major league utility player despite the constant movement he has experienced. The Cubs are his seventh team in 13 major league seasons.
He played the past two years with the Cardinals, who didn’t re-sign him.
“They kicked me out of there,” said Mabry, who played for the Mariners in 1999, 2000 and 2003. “We looked at a couple of teams on the East Coast and a couple on the West Coast, but this was a good fit. I’ll be able to get some at-bats and play a lot, and it’s close to home.”
Mabry, his wife and four children live in St. Louis.
Of note: If Mariners fans are looking for good omens, the Mariners’ 10-16 exhibition record would be one. Last year was the first year since 1992 that the Mariners had a losing spring record and followed it with a losing regular-season record. The last time they had a winning spring and regular-season record was 1993. … Since March 8, the Mariners’ projected starting rotation has a combined ERA of 3.54. … The Mariners released minor league catcher Andy Dominique, who was a major league camp invitee but suffered a sprained knee early in spring training. Once healthy, he was reassigned to the minor league camp, where he had been playing exhibition games the past two weeks.
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