PEORIA, Ariz. – The story of J.J. Putz’s spring training hasn’t reached its happy ending, but he’s certainly building to that.
The Mariners’ closer threw 25 fastballs with full intensity off the bullpen mound Sunday morning and, for the first time all month after such a session, his right elbow felt good afterward.
“I feel strong,” he said.
Putz hasn’t pitched in a game since March 5, but says he should be available for opening day next Monday against the A’s.
He will play long-toss today, then pitch an inning in a minor league game on Tuesday. He’ll get one major league exhibition outing, Friday night in Las Vegas against the Chicago Cubs.
“Then I’ll be ready to open the season Monday,” Putz said. “Today was a big relief.”
Putz began feeling discomfort in his elbow early in spring training. He gave up two hits, a walk and two runs in one inning against the Cubs before the Mariners shut him down to let the stiffness in his elbow subside.
He felt fine while throwing in the bullpen the following week, but the elbow stiffened again afterward. He had a magnetic resonance imaging exam on March 15 and has slowly been working his way back to full strength.
Putz threw nothing but fastballs Sunday, although he said he will throw all of his pitches Tuesday in the minor league game.
Brushback: Mariners pitching coach Rafael Chaves often stands in the batter’s box while a pitcher is working in the bullpen. It gives him a hitter’s-eye view of what the pitches are doing.
It also can be dangerous.
Sunday morning, while Felix Hernandez was working on his fastball, one got away and tailed toward Chaves, who bailed backwards out of the box to keep from being impaled with the baseball.
“That one kept chasing me,” said Chaves, who flinched on several of the ensuing pitches Hernandez threw. “It was scary.”
Why take such a risk?
“I like to see what the hitter sees,” Chaves said. “The pitcher might be doing something with his hands that I can pick up, and I can see it the way a hitter sees it, I can correct it.
“But maybe I should wear a helmet when I do it.”
Minor importance: Eight days before they open the season, neither the Mariners nor A’s threw any of their front-line pitchers Sunday as Mariners right-hander Jeff Weaver and A’s righty Rich Harden both worked minor league games.
Weaver’s numbers were nothing special – seven hits, four runs, three earned runs, no walks and three strikeouts in six innings – in his outing for Class AAA Tacoma against the Brewers’ Triple-A team.
That’s a fairly typical line for a major leaguer pitching in minor league camp, where hitters often swing at anything close and it’s difficult to set them up. Some of Jamie Moyer’s worst spring training outings occurred on the minor league side.
Ichiro Suzuki also stayed behind to play on the minor league side, going 3-for-5 with a home run, a walk and a strikeout for Tacoma.
Penmanship: Three pitchers battling for a bullpen role were each nicked during Sunday’s game against the A’s.
Right-hander Sean White, the Rule 5 draft pick from Mercer Island, gave up three runs, none of them earned because of sloppy defensive play behind him. White gave up two hits and a walk with one strikeout in three innings, dropping his spring ERA to 1.29. He hadn’t pitched more than two innings in an outing until Sunday.
Right-hander Jon Huber allowed three hits, a walk and three runs in two innings, inflating his ERA to 10.00. And right-hander Sean Green gave up two hits in one shutout inning. Green, however, failed to cover first base in the 10th inning and drew manager Mike Hargrove’s ire.
“We played hard, but two errors in one inning and not covering first base in the extra inning, that just doesn’t cut it,” Hargrove said. “We will talk about that. Definitely.”
White, Huber and Green are competing with rookie Brandon Morrow for a place in the bullpen. Morrow hasn’t allowed a run all month and has pitched himself into serious consideration for a roster spot even though he has just eight games of pro experience last year, seven of them at the rookie level.
Of note: Left-hander Arthur Rhodes made a clean return to the mound Sunday after missing a week because of stiffness in his left elbow. He gave up one hit and struck out one in one inning against the A’s. “It felt good. Real good,” Rhodes said. “I have to do some work on my fastball on the side, but it was good being back out there. I have been around long enough to know how I feel and when I’m ready for the season and I’m ready to go.” … The Mariners juggled their pitching Sunday, pulling scheduled starter Jorge Campillo in favor of Jake Woods. The M’s wanted to get a better look at Woods and White, who both pitched three innings. “It’s nice to show them that I can start if something goes wrong or, knock on wood, someone gets hurt, I can be a guy they can go to,” Woods said.
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