Second Spot In Batting Order Gives Rodriguez A Good Home

Anyone who read here two weeks ago that manager Lou Piniella was contemplating moving Alex Rodriguez from the ninth spot in the Mariners lineup to the No. 2 spot in the order got a jump on the Seattle shortstop.

“I didn’t know anything about it until I saw the lineup card last week,” Rodriguez said. “I thought, ‘Who’s hurt?”’

No one. Once Rodriguez came off the 15-day disabled list and the team was certain his strained left hamstring was healthy again, Piniella made a switch he’d been mulling over since spring training.

“It’s a great spot for learning to hit in the big leagues,” Piniella said, “because you play little ball at times and you get the pitches to play big ball, too.”

Translating Lou-speak: “Batting second, there are times you’re asked to hit behind the runner, go the other way,” Piniella said. “There are times you’re asked to bunt. It’s an on-base percentage spot, too, so you learn the strike zone, you learn to take pitches. And hitting in front of the heart of the order - the 3-4-5 spots in the lineup - you get better pitches than you do batting ninth.”

Rodriguez saw evidence of the latter immediately.

“Hitting in front of (Ken Griffey) Junior, I don’t get 2-0 breaking balls, 3-1 sliders,” he said. “Why walk me when you’ve got to face Junior?”

As for the other job requirements of batting second, the youngest player in the majors is confident in his abilities.

“I’ve always liked bunting, and going the other way is part of my game,” Rodriguez said. “When I was batting ninth, pitchers knew I could take them deep, and there were times I thought they’d rather face the first hitter or two … than throw me fastball strikes.

“That’s not the case now. I think eventually I’m going to be a heart-ofthe-lineup hitter, whether it’s the four, five or six spot I don’t know. I know Junior’s going to hit third, so I’ll go somewhere else.

Injury updates

Pitcher Bobby Ayala has had the stitches removed from his right hand and begun strengthening exercises, but hasn’t thrown a ball since putting his arm through a hotel window in Chicago… . Greg Hibbard, who has been throwing batting practice, will fly to Arizona today and continue throwing every other day to players in extended spring training… . Often-injured phenom Makoto Suzuki now has a tender right shoulder.