PEORIA, Ariz. – Pitching with the biggest barrier of his career to overcome – a minor league contract – Aaron Sele took the baseball Thursday and worked like it was just another spring training tuneup.
“There are certain things you have to do in order to be ready,” Sele said. “Your overall preparation is for the start of the season.”
Sele’s preparation for a 13th major league season, which he hopes will be with the Seattle Mariners, began impressively. He worked two smooth innings, allowing only one walk, in the Mariners 5-4 exhibition victory over the San Diego Padres at Peoria Stadium.
“All the weight of whether I’ll make the team or not is not going to be based off numbers,” Sele said. “For me, it’s showing that I’m healthy and that the ball is coming out of my hand well.”
His self-evaluation Thursday?
“So far so good. I feel fine,” he said. “I’ll definitely take the way things went today. I threw more balls down in the zone than up. I threw more strikes than I did balls.”
He had everything but the security of knowing where he’ll pitch this season. Sele, who has battled arm injuries the past two seasons while with the Angels, signed a minor-league contract in the offseason with the Mariners and needs a good spring training to make the team.
“Being a veteran pitcher, I realize that when you pitch, most things are out of your control,” Sele said. “You’ve got to do the best you can with the things that are in your control. I can control working hard, doing what I need to do every day to get better, and staying positive. That’s what I’ve tried to do my whole career.
“Spring training numbers are spring training numbers. I don’t care if you throw a zero up there or you have a nine. There are a lot of things out there that will be judged other than those things.”
Working against the Padres’ starting lineup, Sele walked only Dave Roberts in the third inning and got everyone else out on ground balls.
It neither helped nor hurt his chances of making the team. That decision will be based on how Sele is pitching later this month.
“Early in spring training, the first and second outings, I don’t put a lot of stock in how well they do or how poorly they do,” manager Mike Hargrove said. “It’s a chance to get them in live competition for the first time in a long time.”
Sele said his biggest outings will occur during the final 10 days of spring training. The Mariners must decide during the final week whether he will make the team.
“Every outing gives you a little feel for what you need to do,” Sele said. “But generally, the first outing is a nice one just to get out of the way. Generally, your last two are when you should have everything working and you want to be in a competitive in-season pitching mode.”
Franklin sharp: With five different pitches, it’s not easy for Ryan Franklin to be sharp with all of them at this point of spring training.
Franklin threw sinkers, curveballs, changeups and fastballs with relative ease in two scoreless innings Thursday, but said his split-finger will take some time to develop.
“The other pitches, I’ve thrown for so long that I’ve got a feel for them that I will never lose. I’ll probably be able to throw them when I’m 70,” Franklin said. “But the split-finger is a pitch that you’ve got to get a feel for between your fingers.
Who’s No. 2? For the second day in a row, Hargrove’s lineup had Randy Winn batting second.
Hargrove said he will experiment this month with the second spot, focusing most of his attention on the switch-hitting Winn and left-handed-hitting Jeremy Reed.
“You look for a guy who can handle the bat, who can hit behind the runner,” Hargrove said. “You look for a guy who’s a good fastball hitter because if your leadoff hitter is on base and can run, the chances of him getting fastballs are a little greater than somewhere else in the lineup.”
Checked out:: Mariners first baseman Richie Sexson passed the first big test of his rebuilt left shoulder Thursday. Sexson was fooled on a 2-0 pitch from Padres pitcher Chris Hammond in the third inning and had to check his swing. Sexson went on to strike out for the second time in the game.
While with the Arizona Diamondbacks, Sexson injured the shoulder on a checked swing last April 28 and needed surgery that ended his season.
Of note: The exhibition season began with a classic Arizona moment Thursday. Ichiro Suzuki popped an easy fly ball to left field, where the Padres’ Jon Knott lost it in the sun and let it drop for a double. … The Mariners’ first exhibition game drew an overflow crowd, when 11,624 packed Peoria Stadium, which has a listed capacity of 10,000. The additional fans squeezed a little closer than usual on the lawn beyond the outfield fence. … Mexican pitcher Jorge Campillo’s visa arrangements, and his one-year contract with the Mariners, were finalized Thursday. To make room for him on the 40-man roster, the Mariners placed injured pitcher Travis Blackley (shoulder surgery) on the 60-day disabled list. … The Mariners and Padres are seeing plenty of each other early in spring training. Besides the B game Wednesday morning and the A game Thursday, they will play exhibitions Saturday and Sunday in Peoria, then another B game Monday morning at the Padres’ side of the training complex. In all, the M’s and Padres will play seven games against each other this month, plus six more regular-season interleague games. … Among the minor leaguers who dressed for Thursday’s game (but didn’t play) was right-handed pitcher Rich Dorman, who played for the Everett AquaSox in 2002.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
