Mariners take their chances

All winter, as the Seattle Mariners rebuilt their offense to infuse more run production, one area – perhaps the most important area if the team hopes to win – went unchanged.

The Mariners did little to alter a pitching staff that struggled in 2004.

The team earned run average of 4.76 ranked middle-of-the-pack in the American League. No starter won more than eight games.

Two pitchers of huge importance, starter Joel Pineiro and closer Eddie Guardado, missed the final two months of the season with arm injuries and carried through the offseason with no guarantee of their good health in 2005.

With all that, the Mariners chose not to address pitching in the offseason. Instead, they sharpened the offense and defense, confident the current group of pitchers isn’t nearly as bad as the 2004 statistics indicated.

“We’re going with a similar cast that we had last year,” pitching coach Bryan Price said. “They’re guys who I believe in because they’re a lot of the same guys who were on the 2003 staff, which was one of the better pitching staffs in baseball.”

While spring training results can give false hope in a lot of ways, the Mariners believe the solid performance of the starting pitchers last month was a preview of a better regular season.

Jamie Moyer, Gil Meche and Bobby Madritsch all pitched well. Veteran Aaron Sele, who signed a minor-league contract and needed a strong spring to make the team, was one of the sharpest and put together a streak of 15 scoreless innings at one point.

The only uncertainties are Pineiro, who suffered a sore shoulder early in spring training and won’t be ready to pitch until mid-April, and Ryan Franklin, whose status remained unknown all spring.

Franklin, a right-hander who many believe suffered last year because of the Mariners’ poor defense, spent the entire camp unsure whether he would be used as a starter or reliever.

Whether it was competition provided by Sele or the pitchers’ intent to prove that 2004 was a fluke, the starters arrive in April after having pitched well as a group in March.

“It’s been great to see because the question with our team going into this season is going to be the pitching,” Price said. “I’m not going to say I’m surprised by what they’ve done (in spring training). I am pleased.

“Guys are feeding off each other and guys are really getting after it. There’s some vulnerability. I’m pleased to see that with that type of anxiety and pressure, all our guys are stepping up and doing a good job. A competitive camp is a good thing because hopefully it carries into the season and through the season.

“The 2004 season was a struggle from start to finish in all facets of our game. I don’t think anybody wants to relive it.”