There are no surprises, but here’s a look at Seattle’s opening day lineup:
Ichiro Suzuki, RF
Adrian Beltre, 3B
Jose Vidro, DH
Raul Ibanez, LF
Richie Sexson, 1B
Jose Guillen, RF
Kenji Johjima, C
Jose Lopez, 2B
Yuniesky Betancourt, SS
And yes, Felix Hernandez will be the starting pitcher.
There a a couple of jobs still to be won or lost in the next week, but that hasn’t really changed since spring training began.
Want something a little different out of camp today? Try this: http://benbroussard.com/
No, it won’t tell you where Broussard will be on opening day. It will introduce you to Broussard and the CD he’s made.
Broussard isn’t the only recording artist in camp – Miguel Batista played the native flute in a session for a friend recording a CD.
Lots of folks seem concerned about whether the Mariners backup catcher will be Rene Rivera or Jamie Burke, and the two men have a marvelous competition going this spring.
Still, if fans want to worry, there are larger issues than backup catcher.
Less than two weeks before the season begins, closer J.J.Putz hasn’t thrown from the mound, left-hander George Sherrill has – but hasn’t been effective.
Catcher Kenji Johjima hasn’t thrown a runner out all spring and Jose Guillen is far from regular-season shape.
It’s March 22, and all teams have issues. Seattle has its share.
A little after 8 a.m., Mark Lowe was naked on the practice field Tuesday – and then his morning got weird.
It started as one of those wacky bets players make.
As the Seattle Mariners pitchers gathered to run, Lowe bet strength and conditioning coach Allen Wirtala that he couldn’t hit the foul pole with a 40-foot throw three times in a row.
And if he did?
"I said I’d run a lap naked," Lowe said.
J.J. Putz then intervened. Three out of four would be a
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Early on as teammates, Eddie Guardado said he thought J.J. Putz showed great promise – and he wasn’t talking about his arm.
"He’s got a little of me in him, a little of Jay (Buhner) and a lot of his own personality," Guardado said. "He’s nuts."
He meant that in a good way.
This spring, even in the weeks he couldn’t throw a ball from the mound, Putz continued to develop that Buhneresque spark in the clubhouse. Mariners teammates love him, but are never quite at ease around
…There has been more than enough discussion of the right elbow of J.J. Putz the past few days – much of it in the Seattle Mariners front office.
By anyone’s definition, a solid closer is one of the keys to a winning team. When the Mariners weren’t certain of having one, among the first things they did was start looking for an option.
Remember Armando Benitez?
The Mariners did, and have scouted him with the San Francisco Giants, willing to move first-baseman/outfielder Ben Broussard for the right-handed reliever and cash.
No, Benitez hasn’t lived up to
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Three weeks ago, the projection of Seattle’s 25-man roster was posted here – and it hasn’t changed much.
That’s less a sign of brilliance than how few jobs were available this spring, and with 2 ½ weeks of camp left, there may be two jobs on the line and even those are probably spoken for.
Rene Rivera will almost certainly be the reserve catcher, and not because journeyman catcher Jamie Burke hasn’t had a marvelous spring. The reality is, hitting won’t win this job.
For one thing, the backup
…A month into camp, the Seattle Mariners trimmed their in-hosue roster by nine Tuesday – seven of them pitchers.
Left-hander Jim Parque and right-handers Jesse Foppert, Juan Sandoval and Carlos Alvardo were re-assigned to minor league camp.
Lefties Travis Blackley and Ryan Rowland-Smith were optioned to Tacoma.
Catcher Luis Oliveros and infielder Matt Tuiasosopo were reassigned to minor league camp and lefty Matt Perisho was released.
That leaves the team with 50 players in camp and one – Sean Burroughs – who is injured and hasn’t yet reported.