Not For Young At Heart

Makato Suzuki might have pitched his way off the ballclub Tuesday, if he’d ever really been on it.

Paul Spoljaric did pitch his way back to the bullpen, not that he’d ever really been out of it.

Infielders Pat Listach and Jeff Huson might have played their way onto the team, except that their fates - even if they field like Ozzie Smith and hit like Reggie Smith - are assured unless Lou Piniella decides to do something very unbaseball, like carry three catchers. Which, being Lou, he might.

Any other spring, the Seattle Mariners’ 9-8 loss to the Anaheim Angels on Tuesday might have mattered as something other than a visual backdrop to a 3-hour discussion of where to go for dinner.

But this spring is a different proposition for the M’s.

This spring is drama-free - or at least drama-impaired.

Yes, there is the silent auction for Randy Johnson, the resolution of which threatens to plunge the Peoria camp into chaos any day - except that day might not come until July.

And that’s not drama. That’s a Ken Burns series.

Meanwhile, virtually all the roster spots are spoken for, despite a notably high level of competition. So settled are the Mariners that for the first time in memory, no rookies figure to make the Opening Day roster.

Which is OK with Piniella, since he tends to cannibalize them.

“This is not,” he admitted, “a year for young kids here.”

So while only seven of 24 batters have been able to hit the ball out of the infield against left-hander Damaso Marte, he got shipped to Double-A Orlando on Tuesday. Infielder Rico Rossy is hitting .500, but he’ll probably be in the batch assigned to the minor-league camp today.

“Probably next year,” Piniella shrugged. “For a youngster to make this team, they’re going to have to really knock somebody’s lights out.”

And this is nothing but a good thing, if a little unromantic.

For the most part, Piniella is no longer betting on the come. No longer has a job in the starting rotation been handed to a Paul Menhart or an Edwin Hurtado, who never did enough to earn one. It was never really Lou’s style, anyway. Rarely do his May-September romances last beyond June.

Johnny Cummings, we hardly knew ye.

But again, it’s unromantic. What’s spring training without a rookie phenom?

Five years ago, Mac Suzuki was a phenom, a novelty, a nova - a pre-Nomo, pre-Irabu Japanese pitcher trying to make a major league roster. Former M’s pitching coach Sammy Ellis called him a “young Jim Palmer.” His every breath and burp was recorded by a gaggle of Japanese media, notebooks and minicams poised for Piniella to make the announcement that he was taking their favorite son to Seattle.

It never happened. Not in 1993 or 1994. In 1995, the M’s recalled him on Sept. 8, but never put him in a game. He finally reached the big leagues on July 7, 1996 - pitching an inning and a third.

He was back in Triple-A four days later.

Now, young Jim Palmer is still just 22, but the novelty has all but worn off. After scuffling through 3-2/3 innings on Tuesday, a lone Japanese reporter trailed him to his locker.

“It’s kind of nice to be left alone,” he said. “Four or five years ago, they followed me everywhere and asked me the same things over and over. I didn’t feel comfortable with it.”

Suzuki has impressed Piniella this spring, but hasn’t knocked his lights out. He has shown better command and location, and when not particularly sharp - as on Tuesday - has demonstrated an ability to battle out of bad innings.

His ERA in 10 innings is 4.37, though he did allow two of Spoljaric’s runners to score as Anaheim rallied from a 7-2 deficit.

If he’d pitched this well any other spring, Suzuki could have found himself a prime candidate to go north with Mariners. It happened to Josias Manzanillo a year ago, and to long-forgotten arms like Kevin King, Clay Parker and Jim Converse before.

But this year, the M’s came prepared.

Four spots in the starting rotation were already taken. Four bullpen jobs belonged to Bobby Ayala, Heathcliff Slocumb, Mike Timlin and newcomer Tony Fossas. The three candidates for the No. 5 starter - Felipe Lira, Bill Swift and Spoljaric - have pitched well enough for Piniella to decide that the runners-up would simply fill the other two bullpen roles.

So, no room at the inn.

But aside from the missing entourage, Suzuki may be benefitting from having to pay heavier dues than the Hurtados and Menharts.

In his fifth year in the organization, Suzuki played Puerto Rican winter ball for the first time “because I need to learn how to pitch.” He spends more time talking with Seattle’s veteran pitchers than he ever has - partly because his command is English finally allows him to.

“I really haven’t talked to the coaching staff that much,” he said. “If I have a problem, I talk to one of the older pitchers. I think I can pitch in the big leagues now, but I’m not sure if I can help the team yet. That’s what I have to prove. If they send me to the minor leagues, I won’t be disappointed. If I work hard, maybe later in the year or next year I’ll get a chance to win a job.”

Maybe. Lou’s track record on July-September romances is a little better.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: 2 Color Photos

The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = John Blanchette The Spokesman-Review