M’s new pitchers shine in split-squad games
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – On a marathon day of split-squad performances, the Mariners were breathing easier about their near-term pitching while getting another glimpse at a distant mound future looking pretty special.
Seeing their quartet of young rotation prospects blow apart a seasoned Arizona Diamondbacks squad 7-1 on Saturday night might have further tempted the Mariners into keeping one of them to start the season. But the kibosh was likely put on that idea earlier on in the day when veteran Japanese pitcher Hisashi Iwakuma tossed four solid innings in a 5-5 tie with the Los Angeles Dodgers in Peoria, Ariz., that lays to rest much of the early concern about his adjustment to the major league game.
Still, as good as Iwakuma looked at times in allowing just two runs, it wasn’t going to top the nightcap performance by Erasmo Ramirez, Danny Hultzen, Taijuan Walker and James Paxton in their Cactus League debuts. Ramirez is said to be the closest of the four to the majors and showed why, tossing three scoreless innings on just 28 pitches – 23 of them for strikes.
“You tell yourself to try to forget about whether you’re facing big-league or minor-league hitters,” Ramirez said. “But when you see the hitter and that it’s (Justin) Upton and he’s hitting, you remember everything. It’s like, ‘Oh my God, it’s a big-leaguer!’ ”
But Ramirez put aside those thoughts and the fact there were 12,510 fans crammed into Salt River Fields at Talking Stick Park and did what he had done in a B-game against mostly minor-league Cincinnati Reds prospects five days earlier. Ramirez is a strike-thrower by nature and simply focused on hitting the catcher’s target.
As did pretty much every other pitcher after him. The quartet allowed just one run – on a Paxton wild pitch – on four hits, striking out eight batters over eight innings. Paxton had four of the strikeouts over two innings after walking the first two batters he faced and nearly escaping unscathed before the wild pitch.
Hultzen turned in two scoreless innings, allowing just two walks. And 19-year-old Class A hurler Walker had the stadium buzzing by mowing down veteran major-leaguers Willie Bloomquist and John McDonald on strikes before getting a fly out to end his only inning of work.
By the time the night was done, it was hard not to see the statement made by Seattle’s youngsters, only one of which – Ramirez – has pitched as high as Triple-A. Paxton finished last season in Double-A while No. 2 overall draft pick Hultzen has yet to make his professional debut outside of the Arizona Fall League.
“You have to always remind yourself that it’s just baseball out there,” Hultzen said after his outing. “You don’t have to do anything special.”
The Mariners have plenty of mound decisions to make with fewer than two weeks to go before they head to Japan, and Iwakuma made things easier. But Iwakuma’s outing against the Dodgers – the first time he’d gotten more than three batters out in Cactus League or intrasquad play – will help the Mariners resist the urge to promote one of their younger arms for now.
One reason for the reluctance is the relative lack of experience of the four. There is also the financial concern, with the team not wanting to start the arbitration or free-agency clock of the hurlers as long as they have capable major-leaguers in their midst.
Notes
Jesus Montero hit a two-run double in the first inning against Arizona and finished with three RBIs, as did Munenori Kawasaki. … Kyle Seager hit his second homer of the spring against the Dodgers.