PEORIA, Ariz. — Seattle Mariners right-hander Felix Hernandez threw his first spring session of live batting practice on Wednesday and cited his goal as, “Fastball command. And I wanted to throw my breaking balls to see if they still worked.”
And …?
“It looked pretty good,” he said.
There weren’t any good swings — and just scant contact — from the collection of minor-league players assigned to face the King on Field 6 about two hours prior to the Cactus League opener against San Diego.
The Mariners opened their spring schedule by presenting a lineup loaded with players not expected to make the big-league club. That prompted a question from Hernandez to the regulars.
“I just asked them, ‘Why are you guys not in the lineup today?’” he said. “They said, ‘Because you’re not pitching.’”
Platoon plans
Don’t look for Mariners manager Lloyd McClendon to implement his projected platoons in left field and right field for spring games — i.e., Dustin Ackley (for example) will seeing playing time against left-handed pitchers.
“It’s not going to be a factor for me this spring,” McClendon said. “I want them to see both because there may be times when they’re forced to see them in action in games.
“I won’t limit them, exclusively, to just left-handed or right-handed.”
McClendon previously indicated he intends to use Ackley and converted second baseman Rickie Weeks in left field, and split time in right field between Seth Smith and Justin Ruggiano.
Ackleys reunited
Ackley reports his wife, Justine, and infant son, Parson, arrived Tuesday night in Peoria. Ackley said, “Both are healthy and doing fine.”
The couple was en route to camp from their home in Michigan when Justine went into labor on Feb. 19 near Oklahoma City. Parson Bennett Ackley, the couple’s first child, arrived six weeks premature.
While healthy, the infant required time on a respirator and in an incubator. Ackley remained in Oklahoma City until the situation stabilized before continuing to camp.
Time change
The Mariners’ game on March 12 against Oakland at HoHoKam Park in Mesa is shifting to a noon start to accommodate a request by Major League Baseball to aid HBO in taping a special on the fight against cancer.
MLB and HBO are collaborating on the project, which will also involve live tapings at four other Cactus League ballparks on the same date.
The Mariners/A’s game had been scheduled to start at 1:05 p.m.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
