PEORIA, Ariz. – Eighteen-year-old Adam Jones is keeping his eyes wide open at spring training, a smart approach for at least one very good reason: Jay Buhner is his locker mate.
“Sitting next to Jay, he has been a mentor,” said Jones, the shortstop prospect who was the Seattle Mariners’ first-round draft choice last June. “They tell me I’ve got to watch out for that guy.”
So far, no hijinx. Just high praise.
“He’s good for 18,” Buhner said. “He’s got the body of a guy like A-Rod when he first came up. Good athlete, strong kid, tall. If you look at his mitts you can see he’s going to keep growing. He’s got good hands, carries himself well and keeps his mouth shut.”
Jones said he wasn’t as awe-struck when he arrived at spring training as he was last summer when he met many of the Mariners before a game in his hometown of San Diego not long after the draft.
“I was like, ‘Wow! There he is. And there he is,’ “said Jones, who attended the same high school as ex-Mariner Mark McLemore, who showed him around that day in San Diego. “But now that I’m around them, they’re just regular people. This has been a lot better than anything I could imagine, being with the talent in the big leagues and the atmosphere in the clubhouse.”
Jones batted .284 in 28 games at rookie-level Peoria last summer, then went 6-for-13 in three games with the Everett AquaSox. He probably will play this year at Class A Appleton, Wis., after spending about a month soaking up the major leaguers’ influence at spring training.
“I’m picking Jay’s brain, all the veterans’ brains, so I can be a better player,” Jones said. “Jay tells me in the (batting) cage that there are as many hits to right field as there are to left. He tells me not to try and do too much because when you do too much, you do nothing.”
Jones, who won’t turn 19 until Aug. 1, said he’s not in a hurry to dazzle anyone in spring training or this year in the minors.
“I’m only 18 and I’m not trying to make the big leagues at 19,” he said. “I’m a young man. A baby.”
For that reason, Jones hasn’t felt the wrath of the mischievous Buhner, although it’s still early.
“Nothing yet, but I’m sure he has something planned,” Jones said.
The kid is learning fast.
Side-splitting: Catcher Dan Wilson didn’t take batting practice Sunday after he felt a twinge in his left side. It’s the same side where he suffered a strained oblique muscle during the second week of spring training that landed him on the 15-day disabled list to start the season.
This tweak wasn’t nearly as severe.
“It’s not a problem, but we wanted to make sure it’s not a problem,” Mariners manager Bob Melvin said. “It’s more precautionary than anything else. It didn’t inhibit him from doing anything else. I suspect he’ll probably be able to hit (today).”
Getting the arm ready: Less than a month after surgery to remove bone chips from his right elbow, Melvin said he will throw a baseball late this week.
It’s a major step for Melvin, who thrives on throwing batting practice but hasn’t been able to do that since early last season.
“Friday is the day they tell me I’ll be ready to break it out,” he said. “I don’t know if they’ll let me throw a group (in batting practice) but they’ll let me throw a baseball.”
Melvin joked that he’s been building his confidence by throwing batting practice to Little League teams at his home in nearby Cave Creek.
“Break a few aluminum bats, intimidate a few nine-year-olds,” he bragged. “Nobody’s going to be hanging over the plate on me.”
Edgar’s schedule: Melvin has begun the annual process of devising an at-bat strategy for designated hitter Edgar Martinez, whose opportunities are limited at spring training because the DH isn’t used when the M’s are visitors against National League teams.
For that reason, Martinez will get two at-bats in Wednesday’s intersquad game because he will sit out Thursday’s exhibition opener because the Padres are the home team. Martinez will play Friday when the Mariners host the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Scott Spiezio, who is switching to third base this year, also will play the intersquad game and get at least two at-bats. Otherwise, both squads will be filled with young players, Melvin said.
Lining up the starters: Here is the pitching rotation for the first five exhibition games:
Thursday vs. San Diego – Gil Meche two innings, followed by Ryan Franklin for one inning; Friday vs. Arizona – Jamie Moyer two innings; Saturday vs. San Diego – Joel Pineiro two innings; Sunday vs. San Diego – Freddy Garcia two innings; Monday vs. Anaheim – Franklin two innings, Meche two innings.
Money swing: As if he hadn’t learned the lesson long ago, Bret Boone received a reminder Sunday that it doesn’t pay to challenge Ichiro Suzuki to a home run contest. Boone did anyway Sunday when each player had a final pitch to hit in batting practice.
Suzuki hit his out; Boone didn’t.
“Ichiro’s a very difficult guy to take on in that game. Many a guy has tried,” Melvin said. “Anybody who has watched batting practice at Safeco Field knows you would have a tough time playing home-run ball with him and even coming close.”
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