M’S Face Same Old Story With Same Young Arms

All the young arms the Seattle Mariners insisted were attached to their young pitching prospects have had one thing in common the last two seasons - none have translated into victories.

One of the first things Lou Piniella was told when he signed on to manage Seattle was that there were solid young players and pitchers on their way up. In the two years since, Piniella has played 34 rookies.

Six of those rookies were starting pitchers who were offered the opportunity to fill the fourth or fifth spot in Seattle’s five-man starting rotation.

Those spots in that rotation, however, have produced far more promise than production - just five triumphs in two years from Seattle’s prospects.

When injuries felled virtually all the front-line starters in 1993 for some period of time, the Mariners got 21 starts from seven pitchers given the chance to win a job. In those 21 starts, the un-magnificent seven went 1-12 with a combined 6.20 earned run average.

Last season, it was worse.

Beyond the four-man rotation of Randy Johnson, Chris Bosio, Dave Fleming and Greg Hibbard, the Mariners used six starting pitchers in a combined 33 starts.

The results: 4-16 with a 7.32 ERA.

In 13 starts, Roger Salkeld won twice and allowed 47 runs in five games - averaging only 4 1/2 innings a start.

Jim Converse started eight times and never won. In 38 2/3 innings, he allowed 37 earned runs. John Cummings started eight times, won once.

Only Tim Davis, given one lateseason start, delivered - he went 1-0 with a 3.60 ERA.

So who are the candidates for the No. 4 and No. 5 spots in the ‘95 rotation? Davis, Converse, Cummings and Salkeld.He has seen what that has produced the last two years.

“Nobody wants to hand jobs out, and we’ve had trouble the last two years finding anyone who’ll win a job and then pitch well enough to keep it,” Piniella said of his young arms. “But the pitchers we’re looking at this spring, they’re not kids, anymore. They’ve got some experience.

“Now is the time to show us what you’ve got. This is the spring some pitchers change from prospect to suspect.”

For no particular reason, Piniella thinks Cummings might be the surprise this camp. Some things Piniella saw late last season endeared the left-hander to his manager. In two August appearances, Cummings pitched 12 1/3 innings, went 1-0 and had a 2.19 ERA.

“He’s tough out there, he never wanted to come out of a game and he learned,” Piniella said.

Mariners lose

Center fielder Brian McRae hit his first National League home run since coming over from the Kansas City Royals as the Chicago Cubs beat the Mariners 7-4 Friday in Mesa, Ariz.