The ERA wasn’t the only thing inflated about Mariners pitcher Carlos Silva this year. His waistline grew, too, and it wasn’t because of a wallet fattened by the four-year, $48 million contract the Mariners gave him last offseason.
Silva packed on the pounds in 2008. While his weight at the end of the season was listed as four pounds heavier than the beginning — 250 pounds — reality is that he was about 30 pounds heavier. It certainly didn’t help him get through a season in which he suffered from arm and back problems.
What are Silva and the Mariners doing about it now? They’re taking special steps to make sure the man nicknamed “Buffalo” shows up at spring training in better shape.
Silva is on an offseason nutrition and workout program that is being so carefully monitored that strength/conditioning coach Allen Wirtala spent a few days at Silva’s home earlier this offseason and trainer Rick Griffin will do the same later. Griffin wouldn’t say how much Silva weighs now or what the team expects him to weigh when spring training begins.
“He’s on a real good program,” he said. “He’s right where we want him.”
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