Left-handed relief specialist? Mariners hold auditions
PEORIA, Ariz. – Trying to pick out just who’s going to be in the Seattle’s bullpen and what roles those six or seven pitchers might occupy is kind of like filling out your NCAA tournament bracket.
Sure, you think you know who’s going to be there at the end, but a lot can change in the next few weeks.
So much is unsettled about the bullpen, and it goes well beyond finding a replacement for closer J.J. Putz.
The closer position is probably the most glamorous in the bullpen, but one role that garners less attention, yet really doesn’t lack for importance is the situational left-hander.
Bullpens oftne feature a specialist who gives left-handed hitters fits. The specialist will sometimes come in for one hitter, maybe two, perhaps even an inning. The biggest qualification? Simple. He must retire left-handed hitters.
For the Mariners, Mike Meyers, Norm Charlton, George Sherrill and Arthur Rhodes have filled that role with great success.
This season, for the second consecutive year, the role is unsettled this spring for the Mariners. Perhaps even more frustrating for manager Don Wakamatsu is that he hasn’t been able to do much evaluating of the position.
“I think we’re behind in making that decision,” he said.
Why? Two of the prime candidates – Tyler Johnson and Cesar Jimenez – have not thrown in a game yet because of injuries.
Other candidates have pitched themselves out of consideration this spring, so realistically, it will come down to Jimenez or Johnson, with each having his strengths and weaknesses.
Jimenez made his Cactus League debut Monday, throwing one inning and allowing one hit, striking out one.
“I felt good, especially since it had been a while since I pitched,” Jimenez said. “Walking to the mound, I was excited, nervous. After the first pitch, I was fine,” Jimenez said.
Jimenez came into camp battling tendinitis in his left shoulder that he got while pitching winter ball in his native Venezuela. When his shoulder was healthy enough, he got sick with bronchitis.
“It was frustrating,” he said. “But I feel good now. There’s a lot of competition in this camp right now and I want to get in it as soon as I can.”
Last season, Jimenez was called up from Triple-A Tacoma on June 30 and stayed with the Mariners the rest of the season. However, he was more a do-anything reliever than a lefty specialist. He made two starts and appeared in 31 games, picking up two saves.
“It was a good experience for me,” he said. “It showed I could pitch in the big leagues.”
What Jimenez didn’t show is a consistent ability to retire left-handers in tough situations. Lefties hit him better (.307 batting average) than right-handers (.203).
Part of the problem is that Jimenez doesn’t possess either the overpowering velocity or a dominant breaking pitch to give left-handed hitters trouble. But he’s always maintained that his breaking ball is a work in progress and his best pitch – a circle change-up – and better fastball location could make up for it.
“We’re going to bring him along slowly and set him up against left-handers later in camp,” Wakamatsu said.
Still, Jimenez’s ability to get right-handers out could be a big plus for him.
“The other thing you’d like to say that you have is a guy that’s situational, but he’s also versatile to give you an inning or so,” Wakamatsu said. “We’re taking that into consideration.”
Johnson hopes his first spring appearance will come this weekend. He hopes to be ready to pitch in a game Friday.
“Every day that I throw and my arm doesn’t hurt is good,” he said.
Johnson, who signed a free agent contract in the offseason, missed all of last season with the Cardinals while recovering from shoulder surgery for bursitis.
He has been on a slow program in camp because of the surgery. But after recent bullpen sessions, he pronounced himself ready.
“As far as command (Monday), it wasn’t there like it was last session (Saturday),” he said. “The last session was awesome. You wouldn’t have even known I had surgery. My stuff was just as nasty as it had been. My arm is back.”
Particularly nasty was his breaking ball that showed excellent bite.
“It’s doing what I want it to do,” he said.
In three seasons with the Cardinals, lefties hit .228 against him, and he struck out almost one in every four left-handers he faced. And right-handers weren’t been much better, hitting .237.
But the shoulder surgery put all that into question.
“There was a time where I thought maybe I wouldn’t ever pitch again,” he said. “I would rehab for five months and it would be good and then I’d take a step back. But now it’s just been building and I haven’t gone back in two or three weeks. That’s what I think they want to see is that I’m healthy. I can definitely show them that I am. No more DL for me.”
Ryan Divish: 253-597-8483
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MARINERS SPRING UPDATE
Monday games
In a split-squad doubleheader, Seattle lost to Cleveland, 4-1, on a two-out, walk-off home run given up by
Luis Peña; and against the Dodgers, the Mariners took a 4-3 victory when minor league outfielder
Mel Stocker singled home the winner in the 10th inning.
Today’s schedule
This is a scheduled day off in camp.
Notable
Chris Jakubauskas, a 29-year-old non-roster invitee, went five scoreless innings against the Indians to stretch his scoreless innings streak to eight. “He was outstanding, just efficient getting outs; he did a great job with the running game,” said bench coach
Ty Van Burkleo, who managed the game. “His pitch count was extremely low the whole game and we had other guys we wanted to get work to. I was like, ‘Geez this kid might go seven innings and we won’t get the other guys in there.’ He came in under his pitch count. I can’t say enough good things about him.”
Think the Mariners have noticed?
“He’s a survivor from the independent league. He’s not afraid of anything, and he’s put himself on the map,” manager
Don Wakamatsu. … It’s mid-spring, and power hitters are starting to find their strokes. Ask
Russell Branyan, who hit his fourth home run of the spring – and third in two games – in the second inning to tie the score against the Dodgers. … Your mortgage may be upside down, your job in jeopardy, but
Erik Bedard wants you to know the good news. “My butt felt good,” he said after pitching one inning. For the Mariners and their top left-handed starting pitcher, that is good news. Sidelined by a strained muscle in his gluteus maximus, Bedard missed one start but felt fine in a limited return to the mound. He threw 19 pitches – nine for strikes – and allowed an earned run, but is now back on track to start the season healthy. “I could have thrown more, but you’ve got to be smart. I could throw four innings today and wind up with tendinitis tomorrow,” he said. … The M’s optioned right-hander
Stephen Kahn to minor league camp. Outfielder
Freddy Guzman, recuperating from a broken hamate bone, was re-assigned to minor league camp. More cuts were being made – but not announced – after the games. … Against Los Angeles, the M’s had 14 hits, and six of those were divided between Stocker and
Tyson Gillies, a pair of minor leaguers up for the day. … Wakamatsu didn’t know much about the three young players who won the game in the 10th inning.
Jose Dominguez singled, then went to third base on a single by Gillies. “It’s a little uncomfortable to have a runner at first and have no idea what kind of baserunner he is,” Wakamatsu said. “All three of those kids delivered, and another minor leaguer,
Jake Wild, got the win in relief.”
Quotable
“I’ve got a loose spark plug in there, among other things.”
– Reliever
Roy Corcoran, who was sidelined for a few days by mild biceps tendinitis
Medical update
Brandon Morrow threw a 30-pitch bullpen session without pain, testing his tight right forearm. He’ll throw at least one more session before the team considers getting him back in a game, and it’s likely he will not be ready to open the season with Seattle.
Larry LaRue, The News Tribune
