PEORIA, Ariz. — Mike Carp worked a three-ball, no-strike count and looked to his third base coach expecting to see the take sign. Instead, there was no such sign, leaving the power-hitting Carp the freedom to take a hack.
He didn’t, drawing a leadoff walk in a key late-inning situation when the Seattle Mariners needed a baserunner. It was exactly what manager Don Wakamatsu wanted to see.
Earlier in the game, Mariners hitters worked themselves deep into the ball-strike count but passed up hittable pitches along the way. Not exactly what Wakamatsu wanted to see.
In these early games of spring training, Wakamatsu is letting the hitters choose their approach at the plate, right or wrong. It’s part of the mental growth he and the coaching staff are hoping the Mariners will experience before the regular season begins.
“Say you’re leading off an inning and there’s a 3-0 count,” Wakamatsu said. “In spring, I want to see their decision-making process rather than just giving them the take sign. When you’re trying to control their thought process, they don’t grow as much.”
Whether it’s hitting, baserunning or defense, Wakamatsu and his staff are taking the mistakes they see in the games and working the next day on drills designed to prevent them from happening again.
“We’re going to attack them as soon as they come off the field, then we’re going to design drills the next day to eliminate some of those things,” he said.
Baserunning will get some attention during today’s workout after the Mariners had five more runners thrown out on the bases during Thursday’s 4-4 tie with the Padres.
Reegie Corona was picked off first base twice, Jeff Clement was thrown out at home by a wide margin after third-base coach Bruce Hines sent him and Mike Morse was thrown out at third base after he’d tried to stretch a two-out RBI double in the fifth.
The biggie was Callix Crabbe, who tried to score from second base on Rob Johnson’s high-chop infield single.
“With baserunning being such a huge emphasis, we’re going to try and simulate those situations in drills,” Wakamatsu said. “Rather than just talk about them, we’re going to talk about them and execute some drills.”
Pitching nothing to brag about
Felix Hernandez threw only four pitches to get through the first inning, then needed 19 more before he walked away from the second after allowing four hits and two runs.
Hernandez said he was happy with his first exhibition start. Wakamatsu said he wasn’t.
“They came out hacking in the first inning and he threw (four) pitches,” Wakamatsu said. “He sat a little bit, went out and got the ball up the second time out. The quality of his pitches weren’t as good.”
Hernandez said all but four or five of his pitches were fastballs.
“I just wanted to command my fastball to both sides of the plate. That’s why I threw a lot of fastballs,” he said. “It worked.”
Hernandez will leave Sunday and join Venezuela’s World Baseball Classic team in Orlando for four days of workouts. He’ll pitch the WBC opener Saturday against Italy in Toronto.
Jarrod Washburn, Mark Lowe, David Aardsma, Shawn Kelley, Denny Stark, Tracy Thorpe, Eric Hull, Jose Lugo and Luis Munoz also pitched for the Mariners.
Kelley, a 24-year-old right-hander who has a 1.98 ERA in two minor league seasons, was the only pitcher who Wakamatsu praised. He pitched a perfect sixth with one strikeout.
Of note
With so many first basemen in camp, Bryan LaHair played five innings in left field Thursday. LaHair played outfield early in his minor league career and he’ll be out there occasionally this spring simply to get more at-bats because of the glut of first basemen. … Thursday was the first day in at least 10 years that a Mariners spring training game hasn’t been on radio. ESPN 710 AM is airing 20 games this year, including each of the next three. … Third baseman Adrian Beltre is scheduled to be in the lineup today and Saturday before deciding whether he’ll play for the Dominican Republic in the WBC. He’s coming off shoulder and thumb surgery. … Second baseman Jose Lopez (back) is expected to make his exhibition debut today and shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt (hamstring) on Sunday. … Outfielder Wladimir Balentien’s chances of making a positive impact are getting slimmer as he remains away because of visa issues. Wakamatsu, who’d hoped Balentien would arrive by Thursday, said the club doesn’t know when he’ll be in camp. … Newly signed first-round draft pick Josh Fields probably won’t pitch in an exhibition until late in spring training after he’s already been sent down to the minor league camp. … Reliever Tyler Walker, considered one of the candidates for the closer role, threw off the bullpen mound as he comes back from a tight right quad. … Former Lake Stevens High School star Mitch Canham, a minor league invitee in his first big-league camp with the Padres, singled and stole second in the 10th inning.
Today in camp
Mariners vs. Dodgers, 12:05 p.m. at Peoria (710 ESPN AM). Left-hander Erik Bedard will make his exhibition debut for the Mariners.
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