Mariners may lose Gutierrez until May

PEORIA, Ariz. – All the talk surrounding Franklin Gutierrez this spring had been about the 15 extra pounds of muscle he packed on to his healthier body.

But a torn muscle in his chest is significant enough that he’ll begin the season on the disabled list and likely will not play for the Mariners before May.

The team announced Wednesday that Gutierrez has a partially torn pectoral muscle and won’t resume normal baseball activity for at least four weeks.

That means he’ll essentially be starting spring training over again as the Mariners are playing regular-season games.

The rehabilitation process normally requires at least a couple of weeks to get properly conditioned and then several more weeks of minor league games to get ready.

“At this point, we don’t know,” M’s general manager Jack Zduriencik said of how much Gutierrez could be ready to do in four weeks. “Everybody responds differently.”

Gutierrez injured his pectoral muscle while making routine throws from the outfield to third base during a drill Tuesday morning.