Memory underload

SEATTLE – J.J. Putz knows it takes a short memory to do his job.

As a late-inning relief pitcher, just about any run he gives up is a big one, and when they come in bunches of four, well …

Amnesia is a good thing.

Remember Trot Nixon’s grand slam to spark the Red Sox comeback to beat the Mariners on May 14? Or Bernie Williams’ slam two days later in a Yankees victory over the Mariners?

Putz does and he doesn’t.

A late-inning power pitcher like Putz knows he’ll get beat throwing his best fastball – which reaches 97 mph – and that it’s best to forget about it.

But he also knows there’s more to pitching than throwing the fastball, even for a big guy like him (6-foot-5, 245 pounds). After months of work on his mechanics, Putz has found the touch with his slider and sinker, two breaking pitches that make him a different pitcher than he was two months ago.

Then, hitters eagerly waited for the fastball and nothing else.

Now?

“I have more weapons now,” Putz said. “I’m able to keep them off balance more and keep them guessing. They can’t just sit dead-red and think fastball (on the) first pitch because they know I will mix in some first-pitch sliders to both lefties and righties, and the split as well.”

Besides throwing first-pitch strikes, nothing’s better for a pitcher than a hitter who doesn’t know what’s coming next. Early this season, the hitters always seemed to know.

Putz gave up four home runs in the first 17 innings he pitched this season, then went on a 13 2/3 -inning streak without allowing one. He has allowed three already this month, but also gotten some huge outs to preserve slim leads.

Last Saturday, he struck out the Orioles’ Sammy Sosa with a fastball and the potential go-ahead run on second base in the ninth inning. It was a huge part of a 3-2 Mariners victory.

“With his resume and what he’s done in his career, especially with a runner in scoring position in a tie game, to make good pitches and get him out can only add to confidence,” Putz said.

He has learned to love facing the big hitters in game-deciding situations.

“I faced Jim Thome in the Phillies series early this year, and that was probably the first time I’d actually felt a little bit more adrenaline out there,” Putz said. “It was like, ‘Big Jim’s up, here we go,’ I was over-throwing and ended up walking him, but I think that at-bat helped keep me together when I was facing Sosa.”

Mariners pitching coach Bryan Price believes Putz can develop into one of the best right-handed setup relievers in baseball. And he wouldn’t be surprised if Putz becomes a successful closer.

“In the next couple of years, I’d really like J.J. at some point to be considered one of the better right-handed setup guys who could close,” Price said. “But he might pitch so well that he forces our hand to consider him as our next closer.”

Forget the next couple of years. If certain rumors come true, Putz’s time as a closer could arrive in a matter of days.

The July 31 trade deadline is a week away and the fading Mariners are considered sellers, not buyers. Among names that have surfaced as trade possibilities is closer Eddie Guardado.

That would thrust Putz into the closer’s role, a job he nearly had early this season after Guardado suffered a hamstring injury at spring training. Putz finished last season as the Mariners’ closer after Guardado came down with a shoulder injury, and he converted nine straight save opportunities in the final two months.

“Last year, getting a taste of it was the greatest feeling,” said Putz, a 28-year-old who started his pro career with the Everett AquaSox after the Mariners drafted him in the sixth round in 1999. “Being out there at the end of the game when everything depends on you, that’s what everybody wants.”

What will it take for Putz to get that job?

First, there must be an opening. Even if he isn’t traded, nothing is certain with Guardado for next year, although he and the Mariners have a mutual option for the 2006 season and he has said he wants to stay.

Also, Putz must continue to refine his offspeed pitches.

With newfound mastery of his slider and sinker, Price says he has the repertoire to succeed.

“Those are pitches that will define him as a late-innings guy,” Price said. “He’s got the great fastball and will continue to work on that. But he’s getting the hitters off the fastball-only mentality. He’ll never have to apologize for throwing the fastball. But you have to make sure hitters aren’t geared for just one pitch.”

Guardado, whose fastball rarely reaches 90 mph, is the classic example of a pitcher who uses location and variety to succeed.

“Nobody locates a fastball better than Eddie does, but he also throws enough sliders and splits that hitters respect that he has those pitches,” Price said. “J.J. needs to be the same way, and I think he’s starting to get there. He can overpower with the fastball, but he can be a dominant force by utilizing that slider.”

Putz still gives up the long ball – Shea Hillenbrand got him last week in Toronto – but he’s also getting big outs and has gained the confidence of his manager and, more important, himself.

“The slider has been there for me,” he said. “In April, it wasn’t a pitch I had a lot of confidence to throw strikes with. Through the course of the season, it has felt better in my hand and it’s to the point now where I feel I can throw it at any count.”

It’s not that Putz is turning into a junk-ball reliever. He’ll always depend on the fastball and, even when all else doesn’t fail, will throw it when he needs to register a big out.

“There were some situations where I got beat with the fastball,” Putz said. “But I’m going to be more mad at myself if I get beat with the slider than if I get beat with the fastball.”

With the sinker and slider – along with a short memory – Putz has become a more complete pitcher.