PEORIA, Ariz. – Joel Pineiro returned to work Tuesday bruised and unsure what condition his right arm really is in.
The Seattle Mariners’ starting pitcher said he felt better than expected after being hit below his elbow with a line drive in Monday’s game against the Arizona Diamondbacks in Tucson.
That didn’t mean he felt great.
“I guess it’ll be day-to-day,” Pineiro said, showing off the area below his elbow that still contained the clear imprint of the baseball’s seams. “It’s pretty swollen up. I guess the real test will be when I throw in the bullpen.”
That will happen today, when Pineiro will try to throw all his pitches.
He wasn’t sure what would happen if he’s too sore to finish his bullpen work or if he misses either of his two remaining starts before the season begins. Pineiro is scheduled to pitch Saturday against the Milwaukee Brewers.
“I hope I don’t have to miss any time,” he said. “They may want me to throw another bullpen or something like that. I don’t know.”
That’s a decision to be made by pitching coach Bryan Price and the trainers after Pineiro throws today.
“We have contingency plans,” Price said. “Each of our starters has two more starts, and five days between their last start of spring and their first of the season. That gives us a lot of flexibility. We can manipulate things the last 10 days, too. We have minor league games available, so we could start him in one of those and keep him right on schedule. If he misses a day or two, we’re fine. If it goes beyond that, we’ll work it out.”
If Pineiro misses a regular-season start – he’s scheduled to pitch the second game April 7 against the Angels – it would break the Mariners’ streak of using the same five starters since the beginning of last season. The Mariners became the first team since the 1966 Dodgers to have five starters go wire-to-wire.
Tuesday morning, Pineiro merely played catch and made only a few throws before the trainers cut him off.
“They just told me to get some throws and see how it felt,” he said. “I felt it a little when I flicked my wrist, but that was because of the swelling.”
Pineiro, who didn’t have X-rays of the elbow, felt better Tuesday than he had expected. He pitched three innings after being hit by Danny Bautista’s line drive, then became so sore after leaving the game that he couldn’t pick up a baseball.
“They said it was going to swell up and I would really start feeling it,” he said. “But yesterday when I was pitching, I was warmed up. Once I stopped and iced it, it really stiffened up.”
Soriano getting close: Relief pitcher Rafael Soriano threw in the bullpen Monday without problems and is scheduled to pitch one inning Thursday against the Texas Rangers.
Soriano hasn’t pitched in a game yet because of a strained internal oblique muscle in his left side, suffered the first week of spring training.
First-base backup: Willie Bloomquist, already the most versatile player on the team for his ability to play second base, third, shortstop and left field, has added first base this spring.
He has gotten considerable playing time at first as manager Bob Melvin looks for a right-handed-hitting backup to John Olerud.
“Willie can play any infield position and if they invented another one, he could play that, too,” Melvin said. “He’s a natural on the infield, a very instinctive player. One thing he has to learn is how much range the second baseman has. Sometimes he wants to go get some balls that any infielder would go after. As the first baseman, he has to make sure he gets back to the base to take the throw.”
Bloomquist said it has been an adjustment, but he has gotten more comfortable with time.
“That’s a position I haven’t had a lot of experience at, but it’s coming along,” he said. “I am no John Olerud, though.”
Melvin could use third baseman Scott Spiezio to back up Olerud, but he would prefer to give Spiezio days off against tough left-handed pitchers. Dave Hansen, a right-handed hitter, also could back up at first.
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