M’s happy to have old Mateo back
PITTSBURGH – It’s easy to forget just how good Julio Mateo pitched out of the Seattle bullpen last season – so easy, in fact, that for a while this year, even Mateo seemed to forget.
“I felt the same way, I thought I was throwing the same way, but I wasn’t getting the results,” Mateo said Saturday. “Nothing was going right.”
After going 4-0 with a 3.15 earned-run average in 50 games in 2003, the right-hander earned his role as middle reliever, and in camp the Mariners said there would be times he’d have to pitch as a setup man.
Mateo was delighted.
“What happened early this season was we had to over-use our bullpen early, our starters weren’t pitching deep into games, and we lost Rafael Soriano,” pitching coach Bryan Price said. “At one point or another, it seemed everyone struggled.”
Mateo included.
In his first 12 games, Mateo had a 3.38 ERA. Over his next 61/3 innings, he allowed five runs and pushed that ERA to 5.95 on May 22.
“I was throwing too many curves, too many changeups, and my fastball wasn’t as good,” Mateo said. “Bryan came to me. We never see our problems, the coaches always see more than we do.”
Actually, bullpen coach Orlando Gomez spotted it first, watching Mateo warm up. He thought Mateo’s lead (left) foot was landing off-line toward the plate – crossing his body more than he’d seen before.
“Orlando told me, I watched Julio throw and agreed,” Price said. “Here’s a guy with a 93-94 mph fastball who was topping out at 87-88 mph. We knew something was different.”
Since May 22, Mateo has been the reliever he was a year ago – not allowing a run in his past 12 innings. The fastball is back, the breaking pitch sharp.
“It’s more fun having confidence,” Mateo said, grinning. “It’s no fun getting hit. I’ll always take the baseball, I’ll always go out there and do my best.
For a while, that just wasn’t too good.
“When you struggle, you think about the wrong things. Now I think only about the pitch I want to throw.”
Notes
Seattle got good news from home Saturday. Outfielder Raul Ibanez has begun hitting off a batting tee – his first baseball-related activity since going on the disabled list June 4 with a strained hamstring. “If he’s back before the All-Star Game, he’ll be ahead of schedule,” manager Bob Melvin said. “He’s going to have to play through the soreness for awhile once he’s healthy, and you’ve got to be careful with that injury. If you do it again, you’re talking about missing the season.” … Add good news: Reliever Rafael Soriano has been cleared to begin playing catch – something he hasn’t done since May 12, when he was put on the DL with a strained right elbow… . Jamie Moyer’s RBI single Friday gave him a three-game hitting streak dating back to last June – matching the longest streak of any active Mariner.