Who’s on second?

PEORIA, Ariz. — The Seattle Mariners’ opening-day shortstop-second base tandem is more like a shortstop alongside a shortstop at heart.

Manager Eric Wedge said Tuesday that Brendan Ryan would start the season at shortstop and Jack Wilson, who has never played a game in his big-league career anywhere but shortstop, will start at second base.

Wilson and Ryan, both considered among baseball’s better defensive shortstops, have spent most of spring training alternating between short and second base. Tuesday, Ryan lined up at shortstop and Wilson at second, and that’s how they’ll stay.

“We could have gone either way with it,” Wedge said. “Ultimately, I felt like it was a more comfortable fit and a better fit for us the way we have them.”

Wedge said several factors played into his decision, including Wilson’s injury history the past two years and the team’s still-to-be-determined choice of who will win the infield utility role. Adam Kennedy and Josh Wilson are battling for that job, and Kennedy has gotten more starts at second base while Josh Wilson has played more shortstop.

Wedge wouldn’t discuss the likelihood that highly regarded prospect Dustin Ackley will start the season at Class AAA Tacoma.

“I’m not going to say that,” Wedge said. “I’m not going to tell (reporters) first before I talk to the players. That’s disrespectful.”

Jack Wilson, limited to only 92 games with the Mariners the past 1½ seasons because of injuries, said he was disappointed when Wedge told him of the plan Tuesday morning.

“I’m a shortstop and I still believe that,” he said. “But you play for the Mariners, you don’t play for yourself. I came here as a shortstop and obviously haven’t done my part.

“Bottom line is I’m in the big leagues playing baseball for a living. Whether I play every day at second base, shortstop or whatever, you get to (age) 33 and realize you have maybe four or five more years of playing baseball and it’s done. I’m definitely not going to waste any second of it. I’m going to go out there and do the best I can and help the team as much as I can.”

Wilson is by no means a finished product at second base. He said he hadn’t played the position since the late 1990s at Oxnard (Calif.) Junior College. When he’s not playing in Cactus League games the remaining nine days of spring training, he said he probably would play second base in minor league games.

“It’s still an adjustment, but that’s definitely to be expected for the most part,” he said. “I’m pretty comfortable receiving (the ball) and throwing over. But there are a couple of things you’ve got to learn as far as placement on the bag and footwork. It’s nothing that some early work and doing more stuff won’t take care of.”

Ryan, acquired Dec. 13 in a trade with the St. Louis Cardinals, assumed at the time that he would be the Mariners’ second baseman. He has started 59 of his 404 major league games at second, but none since 2009.

“I’d discussed it with my agent. He was confident that it wouldn’t be a big deal to move over to second,” Ryan said. “I’d played over there before. I just want to play.

“My goal was to come in and do everything I could to win a starting job, whether it was second, short or head cheerleader. I was just excited to hear that I’m going to be in the lineup. Jack’s a guy I look up to and I’ve always loved the way he played shortstop. The way we look at it, we’ve got two shortstops up the middle.”

Olivo to catch minor league game

Catcher Miguel Olivo, who suffered a groin injury March 5, will play three innings in a minor league game today, catching left-hander Jason Vargas.

Wedge said Olivo should be ready for opening day April 1 if he doesn’t have a setback.

“He’s been doing fantastic. That’s a very positive step,” Wedge said. “If he can stick with the schedule, he’ll be in line to break (camp) with us.”

Wedge wouldn’t discuss Olivo’s playing schedule beyond today, saying he didn’t want reporters to ask him about it if there was a change.

Olivo’s good health is imperative for a team that could break camp needing to clear room for as many as four non-roster players. If Olivo isn’t ready, the only other catchers in big-league camp besides Adam Moore are non-roster players Josh Bard, Chris Gimenez and Steven Baron.

Crunch time for relievers

Felix Hernandez made his next-to-last tuneup for opening day with a strong start Tuesday against the White Sox, holding them to three hits and two earned runs in five innings.

For those who pitched after Hernandez _ Cesar Jimenez, Tom Wilhelmsen, Royce Ring and Chris Ray _ the stakes were higher. They are competing for roles in the bullpen and, with nine exhibition games remaining, they need to be sharp.

“We’re getting to the point in time where we want all of our guys to locate better, put the hitters more on the defensive, work ahead (in the count) and stay ahead,” Wedge said.

Jimenez, who is out of minor league options, didn’t help himself. He allowed two hits and a run in one inning, pushing his spring training earned run average to 7.71.

Wilhelmsen pitched an impressive seventh inning, striking out Brent Morel, Omar Vizquel and former Jackson High School star Brent Lillibridge.

Ring, after a leadoff walk, also cruised through the eighth and twice used his knuckle-curve to get strikeouts.

Ray, who figures to get a late-inning setup role, allowed two runs on two hits, including a home run by Gookie Dawkins.

Wilhelmsen was especially impressive with his three strikeouts, mixing his offspeed pitches with a fastball that he moved around the strike zone.

“He’s been throwing the ball well,” Wedge said. “We still want him, like a lot of our guys, to work ahead and stay ahead better. He has a live arm and his secondary stuff is real good.”

Wilhelmsen, a seventh-round draft pick by the Brewers in 2002 before he failed two drug tests, was suspended and dropped out of baseball from 2005-2008, signed with the Mariners in February, 2010. He pitched in the lower levels of the Mariners’ minor league system last year, including three games with the Class A Everett AquaSox.

“It’s quite a story,” Wedge said. “But you wouldn’t know it by the way he carries himself. You wouldn’t know it by the stuff you see. Just his presence. You’re always looking for presence on the mound and having a good (work) pace at this level.”

Today in camp

Mariners vs. Rockies, 6:40 p.m. at Salt River Fields in Scottsdale (FSN TV and ESPN 710 AM radio). Left-hander Luke French will start for the Mariners against left-hander Jorge DeLaRosa for the Rockies.

Of note

Hernandez will pitch one more time before opening day, and since he lines up to face AL West-rival Texas on Sunday, the Mariners may choose to have him pitch in a minor league game. After throwing 79 pitches Tuesday, he’ll aim for 90 pitches Sunday. … Catcher Adam Moore said Hernandez’s slider was the best it’s been all spring training. “In the bullpen, I told him, ‘That’s your slider.’ His slider is back to where it was. It was filthy.” … Ryan Langerhans played another solid game in his quest to win the fourth outfield job, going 1-for-2 with an RBI double just a few feet from the top of the tall center field wall. He’s batting .333. … Mariners closer David Aardsma has joined the Twitter world at @TheDA53. …

Read Kirby Arnold’s blog on the Mariners at www.heraldnet.com/marinersblog and follow his Twitter updates on the team at @kirbyarnold.