The image of right-handed pitcher Hisashi Iwakuma playing catch on Monday, no matter how pedestrian his throws during a 43-pitch session, had to come as a beautiful sight for the Seattle Mariners.
It marked the first time this spring that Iwakuma has thrown a ball after he spent most of spring training wearing a splint to protect a strained tendon in the middle finger of his right hand.
The Cy Young finalist last year is as important to the Mariners’ starting rotation as anyone — even Felix Hernandez — and Seattle would love to get Iwakuma back sooner rather than later. His first scheduled start has still not been determined, and the pitcher indicated after his throwing session that he still has a ways to go.
“It’s still stiff,” he said of the finger that he injured on a protective netting a few days before the opening of camp. Iwakuma was speaking through team interpreter Antony Suzuki. “We’re still working on full flexibility. I don’t have that range of motion yet, but it’s getting there.”
Iwakuma is wearing protective tape on the finger for another week, after which time his schedule could be determined. The Mariners would prefer to get him back as soon as possible, but Iwakuma proved last season that he doesn’t need much recovery time.
A finger blister hampered Iwakuma throughout spring training in 2013, yet he pitched through the setback and went 6-1 with a 2.13 ERA through April of May of last season.
The return of Iwakuma this week came two days after fellow starter Taijuan Walker, the organization’s top prospect and a likely candidate to make the rotation when he’s fully healthy, returned to the mound for a throwing session after missing most of the spring with a sore shoulder. Walker threw a scoreless inning in a Saturday appearance and is eager to get back into action.
“I’m antsier than I should be,” he told The Seattle Times. “But our training staff has been good about updating me and kind of rolling with it day to day and not making set plans and adjusting to how I’m feeling.”
Walker is likely to miss at least one scheduled start when the season begins, and his relative inexperience (three major league starts, all of them coming after a late-season call-up in 2013) could mean that the 21-year-old prospect spends some time at Triple-A Tacoma before debuting with the 2014 Mariners.
NOTES, QUOTES
–2B Robinson Cano returned from five days off to attend to a personal situation by going 4-for-9 with three RBIs in his first three games back. Cano was going to be the Mariners’ starting second baseman and No. 3 hitter no matter how he performed this spring, but his red-hot bat has undoubtedly given the high-priced free agent an even bigger spotlight as he heads into Opening Day.
–OF Corey Hart is dealing with another minor health issue, leaving his status as a right fielder in doubt as the Mariners close in on Opening Day. Manager Lloyd McClendon said that Hart’s latest setback, a sore arm, could force him into DH duty early in the season. But the Mariners aren’t too concerned about Hart’s long-term future because his surgically reconstructed knees appear to be fine. Hart came to camp with a sore back, then he sat out three consecutive games with a strained forearm over the weekend. He was being targeted as the Mariners’ starting right fielder, but his inability to stay on the field could open the door for DH Logan Morrison or CF Michael Saunders to open the season in right field, possibly opening the door for Abraham Almonte or veteran Endy Chavez to be the Opening Day center fielder.
–OF Dustin Ackley continues to shine this spring, with a .423 batting average through the first 19 games of the Cactus League season. Ackley has hit safely in 17 of his first 19 games and is looking more and more like the Mariners’ Opening Day left fielder.
–LHP Randy Wolf gave up two home runs in his most recent outing, but that was the only damage he allowed as the veteran vies for a spot in the Mariners’ Opening Day rotation. Wolf and fellow veteran Scott Baker could be options to fill in for a start or two while RHPs Hisashi Iwakuma (finger) and Taijuan Walker (shoulder) get into form.
–RHP Blake Beavan looked like a possibility to earn an early-season start, but his seven-run, eight-hit performance that included four home runs allowed in a March 19 start appears to have closed the door on that thinking.
–RHP Stephen Pryor made his first start of the spring Saturday, when he threw a scoreless inning of relief against a team of San Diego Padres minor leaguers. Pryor is coming off surgery on a torn lat muscle in August and is well ahead of schedule in terms of his recovery. “This is the first time my arm has felt right since I got hurt last year in April,” he told The Seattle Times after Saturday’s outing. “It’s something to build off of. I feel back to normal.”
–RHP Fernando Rodney is beginning to look more ready for the regular season, although his 10.50 spring ERA still leaves reason for concern. Rodney threw back-to-back scoreless outings last week, allowing just one run in two innings of work. The veteran is expected to be Seattle’s closer this season.
QUOTE TO NOTE: “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. (RHP Erasmo Ramirez) is a nice major league pitcher, and he fits nicely on a major league club. But when you start talking about No. 1s and No. 2s, those guys don’t grow on trees.” — Manager Lloyd McClendon on Ramirez having to fill the No. 2 starter role until Hisashi Iwakuma gets well
ROSTER REPORT
The Mariners had another strong spring but go into the season with understandably tempered excitement. Seattle put up record-setting offensive numbers last spring, only to struggle with the bats for most of the regular season. The most notable thing that happened this spring was that 2B Robinson Cano, the team’s prized free agent, said Seattle is still one more bat away from competing for a pennant. Those who have watched the Mariners in recent years were left responding something along the lines of “No, duh …”
1. RHP Felix Hernandez
2. RHP Hisashi Iwakuma
3. LHP James Paxton
4. RHP Erasmo Ramirez
5. LHP Taijuan Walker
Minor injuries are likely to prevent Iwakuma and/or Walker from making their first starts of the season, so the Mariners might have to lean on veterans Scott Baker and Randy Wolf — both of them are coming off Tommy John surgery and sat out the 2013 season — to fill out the rotation in the first week of the season. Cuban RHP Roenis Elias, who spent last season at Double-A, could be a darkhorse to make the Opening Day rotation after a surprisingly strong spring.
With Iwakuma and Walker sidelined, Seattle has Felix Hernandez and a bunch of question marks — a familiar problem for the Mariners’ rotation coming out of recent spring trainings. If Iwakuma’s sprained finger holds up, and the 21-year-old Walker lives up to the hype whenever he is over his shoulder soreness, the Mariners could have the potential for a pretty lethal rotation. But the “if’s” outweigh the locks on this staff as the season begins.
BULLPEN
RHP Fernando Rodney (closer)
RHP Danny Farquhar
RHP Tom Wilhelmsen
LHP Charlie Furbush
LHP Lucas Luetge
RHP Yoervis Medina
The addition of Rodney has the potential to give the bullpen a big boost, but the 37-year-old veteran has been less than steady in recent years. A rough spring did little to lower the red flags as the Mariners try to find a reliable reliever to finish off games this season.
The best thing that happened to the bullpen this spring could be the return of Stephen Pryor, whose recovery from surgery to repair a detached lat muscle is well ahead of schedule but could still leave him out of the mix when the season opens. The flame-throwing right-hander was Seattle’s best reliever over the first two weeks of last season but still has some questions to answer before joining the staff.
LINEUP
1. SS Brad Miller
2. 3B Kyle Seager
3. 2B Robinson Cano
4. RF Corey Hart
5. DH Logan Morrison
6. 1B Justin Smoak
7. LF Dustin Ackley
8. CF Michael Saunders
9. C Mike Zunino
There are still a lot of question marks, even with Cano giving Seattle its best No. 3 hitter in more than a decade. Getting right fielder Corey Hart healthy would be a good start, especially on a team desperate for outfield help. He could open the season as the Mariners’ DH, with Logan Morrison, Endy Chavez or Michael Saunders the most likely candidate to start in right.
The offense could still use one more proven bat, and it is hard not to imagine what unsigned free agent Kendrys Morales could add to this lineup. For now, Seattle will hope that additions Cano, Hart and Logan Morrison provide some pop while long-suffering projects like Dustin Ackley, Justin Smoak and Michael Saunders need to take a big step toward becoming consistent contributors.
RESERVES
C John Buck
INF Nick Franklin
OF Stefen Romero
UTIL Willie Bloomquist
OF Endy Chavez
There is plenty of versatility on Seattle’s bench, but the big question is how much offense there will be. Keeping Franklin on the big-league roster would provide a proven bat, but it is just as likely that he will start the year in Triple-A if the one-time starter at second base doesn’t beat out Brad Miller for the starting shortstop job. Chavez could make the Mariners as a non-roster invitee for the second year in a row, mainly because of his speed and experience.
ROOKIE TO WATCH: LHP James Paxton. He followed up a surprisingly strong performance after a September call-up with a good spring, and the Mariners are counting on the 25-year-old southpaw to be a key member of the rotation this season.
TOP PROSPECT: 3B D.J. Peterson was the team’s first-round pick last June, but a scary injury in his first few weeks of professional baseball derailed his debut season. Peterson appears to be fully recovered from the broken jaw he suffered after getting hit by a pitch last August, and the Mariners are hoping he can develop into a middle-of-the-order hitter.
COMEBACK PLAYER: LF Dustin Ackley was supposed to be the Mariners’ second baseman of the future, but his three-year struggle at the plate resulted in a demotion to Triple-A last season and a subsequent position move to the outfield. Ackley has since re-invented himself and used a spring to that saw him hit .423 to emerge as the leading candidate for the starting job in left field.
MEDICAL WATCH
–RHP Hisashi Iwakuma (strained tendon in right middle finger) threw 43 “pitches” during a soft-toss session Monday. It was the first time Iwakuma has thrown this spring, and his availability for his first start of the regular season remains doubtful.
–RHP Taijuan Walker (right shoulder soreness) is back throwing and appears on track to be ready to pitch sometime in April, but he is unlikely to be available for what was supposed to be his first start in the rotation.
–RHP Stephen Pryor (right triceps surgery in August 2013) made his spring debut on March 22 and appears ahead of schedule in terms of his rehab. There is no timetable for him to be ready to pitch at the big-league level, but Pryor has given encouraging signs this spring that he’ll be available at some point.
–RHP Brandon Maurer (sore back) has not pitched since March 10. It appears unlikely that Maurer, once considered a possible option for the Mariners’ rotation, will be up to speed by the time the regular season begins.
–OF Franklin Gutierrez (intestinal issues) went on the restricted list Feb. 13. He does not plan to play this season.